A practical pathway for the preparation of Fe^sub 2^O^sub 3^ decorated TiO^sub 2^ photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light photoactivity

Shifting the ultra-violet of titania to visible light driven photocatalysis can be realized by coupling with metallic or non-metallic elements. However, time-consuming multi-step process and significant loss of UV photocatalytic activity of such TiO2-based photocatalysts severely hinder their practical applications. In this work, we explore the idea of creating a practical method for the preparation of Fe2O3 decorated TiO2 (TiO2/Fe2O3) photocatalyst with controlled visible-light photoactivity. This method only involves the calcination of the mixture (commercial P25 powders and magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles) prepared by a mechanical process. The morphology and properties of TiO2/Fe2O3 composites were characterized by Transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results confirm the fusion of TiO2 and Fe2O3, which promotes photo-generated electrons/holes migration and separation. Because of the strong synergistic effect, the as-synthesized TiO2/Fe2O3 composites manifest an enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. Especially, the TiO2/Fe2O3 photocatalyst is very easy to be constructed via an one-step protocol that efficiently overcomes the time-consuming multi-step processes used in existed strategies for the preparation of Fe2O3/TiO2 photocatalysts, providing a new insight into the practical application of TiO2/Fe2O3 visible light photocatalyst.