Synergistic Effect of Eu~(3+) and Sm~(3+) Co-doping on Photocatalytic Activity of TiO_2 Nanoparticles

摘要

Pure TiO_2, Eu~(3+) and Sm~(3+) co-doping TiO_2 composite nanoparticles have been prepared by sol-gel method and characterized by the techniques such as XRD, SEM and DRS. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution was used as a probe reaction to evaluate their photocatalytic activity. The matrix distortion of TiO_2 nano-particles increases after co-doping of Eu~(3+) and Sm~(3+) and a blue-shift of the absorption profile are clearly observed. The results show that co-doping of Eu~(3+) and Sm~(3+) inhibits the phase transformation of TiO_2 from anatase to rutile, decreases the diameter of TiO_2 nano-particles and significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO_2. The Eu~(3+) and Sm~(3+) co-doped into TiO_2 nano-particles exert a synergistic effect on their photocatalytic activity.