Journal
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
Volume 257, Issue 21, Pages 8965-8973Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.05.074
Keywords
Praseodymium; Nitrogen; Co-doped; Titania photocatalyst; Bisphenol A
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51074067]
- Key Technologies R&D Progaram of Henan Province [092102210364]
- Foundation of He'nan Educational Committee [2010B150009]
- Doctor Foundation of Henan Polytechnic University [648265]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Praseodymium and nitrogen co-doped titania (Pr/N-TiO2) photocatalysts, which could degrade Bisphenol A (BPA) under visible light irradiation, were prepared by the modified sol-gel process. Tetrabutyl titanate, urea and praseodymium nitrate were used as the sources of titanium, nitrogen and praseodymium, respectively. The resulting materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherm and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). It was found that Pr doping inhibited the growth of crystalline size and the transformation from anatase to rutile. The degradation of BPA under visible light illumination was taken as probe reaction to evaluate the photo-activity of the co-doped photocatalyst. In our experiments, the optimal dopant amount of Pr was 1.2 mol% and the calcination temperature was 500 degrees C for the best photocatalytic activity. Pr/N-TiO2 samples exhibited enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity compared to N-TiO2, undoped TiO2 and commercial P25. The nitrogen atoms were incorporated into the crystal of titania and could narrow the band gap energy. Pr doping could slow the radiative recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in TiO2. The improvement of photocatalytic activity was ascribed to the synergistic effects of nitrogen and Pr co-doping. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available