Hydrothermal Synthesis of W-Doped Titania Nanofibers and Its Photocatalytic Activity

Titania nanofibers were synthesized using hydrothermal technique by dispersing P25 powder (20% Rutile and 80% Anatase of TiCh) in NaOH solution and annealed at 150 degree C. The nanofibers that were in ten-hundred nanometer lengths with the diameter of ~ 10 nm were doped with Tungsten Oxide (WO3) using a simple and efficient impregnatingcalcination method. The doping effect of Tungsten (W) on TIO2 was investigated by means of XRD, UV-Vis and gas Chromatograph, while SEM and Nitrogen adsorption were carried out to investigate the morphology and the BrunauerEmmett-Teller (BET) surface area respectively. The result showed that W doping has enhanced the visible light photocatalytic activity of TiCh nanofibers as it has induced shift in the absorption light range with the narrowing of the bandgap energy. The photocatalytic activity of the W-doped anatase TIO2 has greatly enhanced the transportation of charge transfer and reduced the electron-hole recombination. It showed more than 60 times higher photocatalytic activity than TIO2 nanofiber and pristine Degussa P25. The amount of W-doping played a crucial role in affecting the photocatalytic activity of TIO2 where W-doping of more than 5% can reduce the photocatalytic efficacy under visible light range.