Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance of Nano-TiO2 Codoped with Iron III and Lanthanum III

Nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) was modified via metal doping to improve its photocatalytic activity and utilization of visible light. Nano-TiO2 doped with iron III (Fe3+) only, lanthanum III (La3+) only, and both Fe3+/La3+ was prepared using the sol-gel method. The photocatalytic activities of the three forms of doped nano-TiO2 were evaluated. Metal codoping limited crystal growth of crystal, and the sol-gel method was shown to be an effective technique for doping the lattice of TiO2 with Fe3+ and La3+. Codoping of nano-TiO2 with the tombarthite metal mixture had a synergistic effect of the photocatalytic performance, with the codoped nano-TiO2 exhibiting a performance greater than the sum of those of the single-doped nano-TiO2 samples. Kinetic studies showed that the photodegradation reaction of methyl orange by nano-TiO2 follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood first order mechanism.