Preparation and photocatalytic activity of La3+ and Eu3+ co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles: photo-assisted degradation of methylene blue

• Published in: Journal of rare earths Vol. 29; no. 8; pp. 746 - 752
• Main Authors: SHI, Huixian, ZHANG, Tianyong, WANG, Hongliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China%Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China 01.08.2011
• Subjects: methylene blue; titania; lanthanum; photocatalytic activity; europium; degradation; rare earths
• ISSN: 1002-0721
• DOI: 10.1016/S1002-0721(10)60535-2

O643.32; Rare earth ions La3+ and Eu3+ co-doped TiO2 photocatalyst (La-Eu/TiO2) was prepared by sol-gel method,and characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD),specific surface area and porosity (BET and BJH),scanning electron microscopy (SEM),high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM),UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).The photocatalytic activity of the La-Eu/TiO2 was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation.The catalyst had a relatively uniform particle diameter distribution in the range of 40-60 nm.When calcining at 600℃,the XRD patterns of La-Eu/TiO2 indicated the anatase phase,while the XPS patterns showed the Ti4+,La3+ and Eu3+ ions existence.The DRS spectra showed red shift in the band-gap transition.The experimental results of MB degradation demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of La-Eu/TiO2 was significantly enhanced due to better separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.