Synthesis and visible-light photocatalytic activity of Bi-doped TiO2 nanobelts

Bi-doped anatase TiO2 nanobelts were synthesized from layer-structural titanate nanobelts using two-step hydrothermal treatment approach. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images show that the doping of Bi3+ cations does not change the crystal structure and morphology of TiO2 nanobelts. The energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analytic results suggest that the doping cations mainly exist near the surface of the TiO2 nanobelts. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra show that the absorption edge for the samples with Bi3+ has red shift as compared with that of undoped TiO2 nanobelts, and correspondingly, the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under visible-light illumination is enhanced with the increase of Bi-doping content. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.