Probing Photocatalytic Characteristics of Sb-Doped TiO2 under Visible Light Irradiation

Sb-doped TiO sub(2) nanoparticle with varied dopant concentrations was synthesized using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl sub(4) ) and antimony chloride (SbCl sub(3) ) as the precursors. The properties of Sb-doped TiO sub(2) nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fluorescence spectrophotometer, and Uv-vis spectrophotometer. The absorption edge of TiO sub(2) nanoparticles could be extended to visible region after doping with antimony, in contrast to the UV absorption of pure TiO sub(2) . The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Sb-doped TiO sub(2) nanoparticles was much more active than pure TiO sub(2) . The 0.1% Sb-doped TiO sub(2) nanoparticles demonstrated the best photocatalytic activity which was better than that of the Degussa P25 under visible light irradiation using terephthalic acid as fluorescent probe. The effects of Sb dopant on the photocatalytic activity and the involved mechanism were extensively investigated in this work as well.