Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue by Hydrothermally Prepared Ag-Doped TiO2 Under Visible Light Irradiations

摘要

Nanosized silver (Ag)-doped TiO2 and undoped TiO2 are synthesized by a hydrothermal method. With the pure anatase phase, all samples showed good crystallinity and spherical morphology with uniform particle size distribution. Silver doping shifted the absorption edge of TiO2 toward a visible regime depicting the possible modification in the electronic band structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the existence of Ag in the doped sample. Compared with bare TiO2, Ag-doped TiO2 exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity by the degradation of methylene blue under visible light illumination.