Enhancement of photocatalytic activity and regeneration of Fe-doped TiO2 (Ti1-xFexO2) nanocrystalline particles synthesized using inexpensive TiO2 precursor

摘要

Fe-doped TiO2, Ti1-xFexO2 (x=0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09) photocatalysts with enhanced activity were synthesized via a citric-acid-assisted autocombustion method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized Fe-doped TiO2 materials was evaluated using photodegradation of synthetic dye solution (Direct Blue 199) in photochemical and open pan reactors. Among the synthesized Fe-doped photocatalysts, Ti0.95Fe0.05O2 showed the highest photodegradation activity. This Fe-doped TiO2 photocatalyst was regenerated five times and its photocatalytic activity investigated.