Blue/green/red colour emitting up-conversion phosphors coupled C-TiO2 composites with UV, visible and NIR responsive photocatalytic performance

The composites of C-TiO2 coupled with blue, green and red of three colours emitting up-conversion phosphors have been prepared by a simple calcination assisted solvothermal method. The composites of the narrow band gap of C-TiO2 and the unique optical property of up-conversion phosphors enabled to absorb UV, visible and NIR lights simultaneously to proceed photocatalytic reactions effectively. The photocatalytic activities of the composites were evaluated not only for the degradation of RhB solution under NIR light irradiation but also for the destruction of continuous NO gas under the irradiation of UV, visible LEDs and infrared laser. According to the photocatalytic results, the calculated photonic efficiency of infrared light induced photocatalytic activity of samples was much higher than those of UV and visible light responsive ones. Furthermore, the green light emitting up-conversion phosphor coupled C-TiO2 composite presented the superior photocatalytic performance over blue and red ones. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.