Synthesis of Fe- and Co-Doped TiO2 with Improved Photocatalytic Activity Under Visible Irradiation Toward Carbamazepine Degradation

Pure TiO2 and Fe- and Co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) as photocatalysts were synthesized using wet chemical methods (sol-gel + precipitation). Their crystalline structure and optical properties were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible light (UV-Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was evaluated through degradation of carbamazepine (CBZ) under UV-A and visible-light irradiations. The XRD and Raman analyses revealed that all synthesized nanomaterials showed only the anatase phase. The DRS results showed that the absorption edge was blue-shifted for Fe-doped TiO2 NPs. The decrease in charge recombination was evidenced from the PL investigation for both Co-doped and Fe-doped TiO2 nanomaterials. An enhancement in photocatalytic degradation of carbamazepine in aqueous suspension under both UV-A light and visible-light irradiations was observed for Fe-doped Titania NPs by comparison with pure TiO2. These results suggest that the doping cations could suppress the electron/hole recombination. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-based nanomaterials was enhanced.