Anodic Oxidation of TC4 Substrate to Synthesize Ce-Doped TiO2 Nanotube Arrays with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

Starting from the urgent need for water pollution treatment, TiO 2 nanotube arrays (TNAs) and Ce-doped TNAs have been prepared on TC4 titanium alloy substrate via anodic oxidation. Several properties of TNAs and Ce-doped TNAs were characterized utilizing field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer to analyze their morphology, phase structure, distribution of element and optical property respectively. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by the photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated visible light irradiation. The result indicated that the best photodegradation rate of the Ce-doped TNAs on MB reached to 90.4%, which was a huge improvement compared with pristine TNAs.