Pyrogenic iron(III)-doped TiO2 nanopowders synthesized in RF thermal plasma: phase formation, defect structure, band gap, and magnetic properties

Iron(III)-doped TiO(2) nanopowders, with controlled iron to titanium atomic ratios (R(Fe/Ti)) ranging from nominal 0 to 20%, were synthesized using oxidative pyrolysis of liquid-feed metallorganic precursors in a radiation-frequency (RF) thermal plasma. The valence of iron doped in the TiO(2), phase formation, defect structures, band gaps, and magnetic properties of the resultant nanopowders were systematically investigated using M?ssbauer spectroscopy, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, TEM/HRTEM, UV-vis spectroscopy, and measurements of magnetic properties. The iron doped in TiO(2) was trivalent (3+) in a high-spin state as determined by the isomer shift and quadrupole splitting from the M?ssbauer spectra. No other phases except anatase and rutile TiO(2) were identified in the resultant nanopowders. Interestingly, thermodynamically metastable anatase predominated in the undoped TiO(2) nanopowders, which can be explained from a kinetic point of view based on classical homogeneous nucleation theory. With iron doping, the formation of rutile was strongly promoted because rutile is more tolerant than anatase to the defects such as oxygen vacancies resulting from the substitution of Fe(3+) for Ti(4+) in TiO(2). The concentration of oxygen vacancies reached a maximum at R(Fe/Ti) = 2% above which excessive oxygen vacancies tended to concentrate. As a result of this concentration, an extended defect like crystallographic shear (CS) structure was established. With iron doping, red shift of the absorption edges occurred in addition to the d-d electron transition of iron in the visible light region. The as-prepared iron-doped TiO(2) nanopowders were paramagnetic in nature at room temperature.     

低量La3+掺杂S-TiO2光催化剂的制备、表征及其光催化活性

采用溶胶-凝胶-浸渍法制备了La³⁺/S-TiO₂纳米光催化剂,通过XRD、BET、XPS、UV-Vis等手段进行了表征.以甲基橙溶液为光催化降解反应的模型化合物,考察了光催化剂的活性,探讨了低量La³⁺掺杂对TiO₂纳米粒子光催化活性的影响机制.实验结果表明:S改性TiO₂后明显提高了TiO₂纳米粒子的光催化活性,而La³⁺掺杂S-TiO₂后,进一步提高了TiO₂纳米粒子的光催化活性,La³⁺的最佳掺杂量(相对于TiO₂的质量分数)为0.369%;La³⁺/S-TiO₂(ω(La³⁺)=0.369%)为纳米光催化剂时,甲基橙的脱色率达到92.4%(光照120min);XRD和BET分析表明,低量La³⁺掺杂抑制了TiO₂由锐钛矿向金红石的转变,阻碍了TiO₂晶粒的生长,提高了TiO₂的比表面积;XPS分析表明,S、La³⁺掺杂可以导致粉体的表面羟基含量增加,掺杂S以S⁶⁺形式置换TiO₂晶格中的Ti⁴⁺;UV-Vis分析表明,光催化剂La³⁺/S-TiO₂比纯TiO₂具有较强的紫外光吸收性能.与纯TiO₂相比,La³⁺掺杂TiO₂纳米粒子光催化氧化活性的提高应归因于La³⁺掺杂增加了表面羟基含量,增大了比表面积,增强了样品表面的紫外光吸收能力.     

碘掺杂对纳米TiO2催化剂光催化活性的影响

用溶胶-凝胶法制得了碘掺杂纳米TiO2催化剂, 考察了诸因素对相结构的影响, 这对深入揭示I-TiO2光催化降解有机物的本质具有重要意义.     

Photophysical and photocatalytic properties of SrTiO3 doped with Cr cations on different sites

Usually, SrTiO3 monodoped with Cr cations at the Ti4+ site hardly shows visible light photocatalytic activity. Revealing the origin of this issue is important for us to find an alternative approach to make SrTiO3 active under visible light irradiation. In this paper, two Cr-doped SrTiO3-(Sr0.95Cr0.05)TiO3 and Sr(Ti0.95Cr0.05)O3-were synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction method, and their photophysical and photocatalytic properties were studied comparatively. It was found that both (Sr0.95Cr0.05)TiO3 and Sr(Ti0.95Cr0.05)O3 showed considerable absorption to visible light. However, their photocatalytic activities for H2 evolution from aqueous methanol solution under visible light irradiation were significantly different: the H2 evolution rate over (Sr0.95Cr0.05)TiO3 (approximately 21 micromol/h) was more than 100 times that over Sr(Ti0.95Cr0.05)O3 (approximately 0.2 micromol/h). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis results revealed that the Cr cations doped at the Sr2+ site were all trivalent state (Cr3+), while those doped at the Ti4+ site were mixed valent states (Cr3+ and Cr6+). The different photocatalytic activities of H2 evolution are supposed to closely relate to the different valent states of Cr doped at different sites (Sr2+ or Ti4+) in SrTiO3. Possible electronic structures of (Sr0.95Cr0.05)TiO3 and Sr(Ti0.95Cr0.05)O3 were proposed in relation to their photophysical and photocatalytic properties.     

Effects of doping La and Cu on photoinduced charge properties of TiO_2 and its relationships with photocatalytic activity

In recent years, nanosized TiO2 materials have been widely studied in photocatalytic and photoelectric conversion fields because of their intrinsic characteris- tics, such as stable chemical property, strong oxidizing capability and nontoxicity[1,2]. And the preparation, characterization and modification of nanosized TiO2 are always crucial contents in semiconductor photo- electric chemistry and photocatalytic researches[3,4]. To further improve TiO2 performance, doping metal ion is consider…     

Heterometal alkoxides as precursors for the preparation of porous Fe- and Mn-TiO2 photocatalysts with high efficiencies

Transition-metal-doped titanium glycolates (M-TG, with M=Fe, Mn), which are the first non-stoichiometric heterometal alkoxides, have been synthesised through a solvothermal doping approach. X-ray diffraction, UV/Vis diffuse reflectance and ESR spectroscopy revealed that the dopant ion (Fe(3+) or Mn(2+)) is substituted for Ti(4+) in the TG lattice. Fe(3+) prolongs the crystallisation time of Fe-TG, whereas Mn(2+) has a smaller effect on the crystallisation time in comparison with Fe(3+). The as-synthesised M-TG materials were used directly as single-source precursors for the preparation of metal-doped titania (M-TiO(2)) through a simple thermal treatment process. The as-prepared M-TiO(2) materials maintain the rod-like morphology of the precursors and possess a mesoporous structure with high crystallinity. It has been proved that the dopant ions are incorporated into the TiO(2) lattice at the Ti(4+) positions. The photocatalytic activities of the M-TiO(2) materials obtained were evaluated by testing the degradation of phenol under UV irradiation. From the photocatalytic results, it was concluded that high crystallinity, a large surface area and appropriate transition-metal-doping are all beneficial to the enhancement of the photocatalytic performance of the doped TiO(2) material. In addition, it was noted that in comparison with Mn-TiO(2), Fe-TiO(2) shows higher photocatalytic activity due to the better inhibition effect of Fe(3+) on recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In contrast to the conventional nanosized TiO(2) photocatalyst, the micrometre-sized M-TiO(2) particles we obtained can be easily separated and recovered after the photocatalytic reactions.     

Effects of surface oxygen vacancies on photophysical and photochemical processes of Zn-doped TiO2 nanoparticles and their relationships

In this paper, TiO(2) nanoparticles doped with different amounts of Zn were prepared by a sol-gel method and were mainly characterized by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL), and surface photovoltage spectrum (SPS). The effects of surface oxygen vacancies (SOVs) of Zn-doped TiO(2) nanoparticles on photophysical and photocatalytic processes were investigated along with their inherent relationships. The results show that the SOVs easily bind photoinduced electrons to further give rise to PL signals. The SOVs can result in an interesting sub-band SPS response near the band edge in the TiO(2) sample consisting of much anatase and little rutile, except for an obvious band-to-band SPS response. Moreover, the intensities of PL and SPS signals of TiO(2), as well as the photocatalytic activity for degrading phenol solution, can be enhanced by doping an appropriate amount of Zn. These improvements are mainly attributed to the increase in the SOV amount. It can be suggested that the SOVs should play an important role during the processes of PL, surface photovoltage, and photocatalytic reactions, and, for the as-prepared TiO(2) samples doped with different amounts of Zn by thermal treatment at 550 degrees C, the larger the SOV amount, the stronger the PL and SPS signal, and the higher the photocatalytic activity.     

铁酸锌掺杂对二氧化钛结构相变及光催化性能的影响

分别采用共沉淀法和溶胶-凝胶法制备铁酸锌和二氧化钛纳米粉体,较系统地研究了铁酸锌纳米掺杂对二氧化钛“锐钛矿→金红石”的结构相变及光催化性能的影响.结果表明,适量铁酸锌的掺杂可促进二氧化钛的结构相变,显著提高其光催化活性,在最佳掺杂浓度时,其光催化降解苯酚的效率可以提高2～3倍.     

掺杂Ce的TiO_2纳米粒子的光致光及其光催化活性

采用sol-gel法制备了纯的和掺杂不同量Ce的TiO_2纳米粒子，并利用XRD， TEM，BET，XPS和PL光谱对样品进行表征，主要考察焙烧温度和含量对掺杂Ce的 TiO_2纳米粒子性质以及光催化降解苯酚活性的影响，并探讨了Ce的掺杂对TiO_2相 变的作用机制以及PL光谱与光催化活性的关系，结果表明，掺杂的Ce~(4+)没有进 入到TiO_2晶格中，而是以小团簇的CeO_2化学态均匀地弥散在TiO_2纳米粒子中， 这可能导致了Ce的掺杂对TiO_2的相变有很大的抑制作用；Ce的掺杂没有引起新的 光致发光现象，而适量Ce的掺杂能够降低TiO_2纳米粒子PL光谱的强度，这是因为 掺杂的Ce~(4+)易于捕获光生电子而生成Ce~(3+);600℃处理的掺杂Ce的TiO_2纳米 粒子表现出较高的光催化活性，这说明600℃是比较合适的焙烧温度，而掺杂不同 量的Ce的TiO_2样品的光催化活性顺序是：3 mol%＞4 mol%＞2 mol%＞5 mol%＞1 mol%＞0 mol%，这与它们的PL光谱强度的顺序是相反的，即PL光谱强度越低，其 光催化活性越高，这说明PL光谱与其光催化活性间有着必然的联系，这是因为掺杂 剂Ce~(4+)能够捕获光生电子，在光致发光过程中使PL光谱强度下降，而在光催化 反应过程中使有机污染物加快氧化。     

The role of crystal phase in determining photocatalytic activity of nitrogen doped TiO2

Two series of nitrogen doped TiO(2) samples with different ratios of anatase to rutile phases were prepared by milling the mixture of P25 TiO(2) and C(6)H(12)N(4) in air and gaseous NH(3) atmosphere, respectively. Compared to air, NH(3) atmosphere plays an important role in delaying the crystallite transformation from anatase to rutile in the mechanochemical reaction of TiO(2) and C(6)H(12)N(4). In contrast to the previously reported results for pure TiO(2), it is found that nitrogen doped TiO(2) with higher content of rutile phase demonstrates higher photocatalytic activity in photodegrading pollutant Rhodamine B under both UV light and visible light irradiation (lambda>420 nm), and the amount of the surface-adsorbed water and hydroxyl groups on nitrogen doped TiO(2) have little correlations with their crystallite phases (anatase or rutile) and photocatalytic activity. The more abundant surface states characterized by photoluminescence spectroscopy together with the lowered valence band maximum of rutile TiO(2) by nitrogen doping are considered as the key factors for the higher activity of nitrogen doped TiO(2) with higher content of rutile phase.     

掺锌的TiO2纳米粉的结构相变及发光性质

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了掺锌的TiO₂纳米粉末,并用XRD、TEM、TG和DSC等技术考察了掺入的锌对TiO₂的锐钛矿→金红石结构相变的影响.研究结果表明,锌的掺入可促进TiO₂的结构相变,使相变温度显著降低.纳米态TiO₂存在室温光致发光现象,在TiO₂的纳米粉中掺入适量的锌,可显著增强体系的发光强度.     

Synergistic effects in La/N codoped TiO2 anatase (101) surface correlated with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

The interaction between implanted La, substitutional N, and an oxygen vacancy at TiO(2) anatase (101) surface has been investigated by means of first-principles density function theory calculations to investigate the origin of enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity of La/N-codoped anatase observed in experiments. Our calculations suggest that both the adsorptive and substitutional La-doped TiO(2) anatase (101) surfaces are probably defective configurations in experiments. The h-Cave-adsorbed La doping decreases the formation energy for the substitutional N implantation and vice versa, while the charge compensation effects do not take effect between the adsorptive La and substitutional N dopants, resulting in some partially occupied states in the band gap acting as traps of the photoexcited electrons. The Ti(5c)-substituted La doping decreases the energy required for the substitutional N implantation, and the substitutional La and N codoping promotes the formation of an oxygen vacancy, which migrates from the O(sb-3c) site at the inner layer toward the surface O(b) site. For the substitutional La/N-codoped (Ti(5c)_O(3c-down)) surface, the charge compensation between the substitutional La and substitutional N leads to the formation of two isolated occupied N(s)-O π* impurity levels in the gap, while the excitation energy from the higher impurity level to the CBM decreases by about 0.89 eV. After further considering an oxygen vacancy on the Ti(5c)_O(3c-down) surface, the two electrons on the double donor levels (O(b) vacancy) passivate the same amount of holes on the acceptor levels (substitutional La and N), forming the acceptor-donor-acceptor compensation pair, which provides a reasonable mechanism for the enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity of La/N codoped TiO(2) anatase. This knowledge may aid the further design and construction of new effective visible-light photocatalysts.     

Phase structure and luminescence properties of Eu3+-doped TiO2 nanocrystals synthesized by Ar/O2 radio frequency thermal plasma oxidation of liquid precursor mists

Eu3+-doped TiO2 luminescent nanocrystals have been synthesized in this work via Ar/O2 thermal plasma oxidizing mists of liquid precursors containing titanium tetra-n-butoxide and europium(III) nitrate, with varied O2 input in the plasma sheath (10-90 L/min) and Eu3+ addition in the precursor solution (Eu/(Ti + Eu) = 0-5 atom%). The resultant nanopowders are mixtures of the anatase (30-36 nm) and rutile (64-83 nm) polymorphs in the studied range, but the rutile fraction increases steadily at a higher Eu3+ addition, as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, because of the creation of oxygen vacancies in the TiO2 gas clusters by substitutional Eu3+ doping. The amount of Eu3+ that can be doped into a TiO2 lattice was limited up to 0.5 atom%, above which Eu2Ti2O7 pyrochlore was formed in the final products. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observation indicates that the particles are dense and have sizes ranging from several nanometers up to 180 nm. Efficient nonradiative energy transfer from the TiO2 host to Eu3+ ions, which was seldom reported in the wet-chemically derived nanoparticles or thin films of the current system, was confirmed by combined studies of excitation, UV-vis (ultraviolet-visible), and PL (photoluminescence) spectroscopy. As a consequence of this, bright red emissions were observed from the plasma-generated nanopowders either by exciting the TiO2 host with UV light shorter than 405 nm or by directly exciting Eu3+ at a wavelength beyond the absorption edge (405 nm) of TiO2.     

溶胶-凝胶-水热法制备Ce-Si/TiO2及其可见光催化性能

以钛酸四正丁酯、正硅酸乙酯、六水硝酸铈为原料, 在140 ℃下通过溶胶-凝胶-水热法水解制备Ce-Si/TiO2. 所得样品用X射线衍射、氮吸附、透射电镜、紫外漫反射、傅里叶变换红外光谱、X射线光电子能谱等测试手段分析, 结果显示400-600 ℃条件下焙烧所有样品均为锐钛矿, 样品具有较大的比表面积, Si和Ce均被引入到TiO2中. 在可见光照射下, 以脱色降解罗丹明B为探针反应, 研究其可见光催化性能, 结果表明, 与未掺杂和单一组分掺杂的二氧化钛相比较, 共掺杂的二氧化钛具有更高的催化性能, 当Ce/Ti和Si/Ti的物质的量比分别为0.010和0.10时,可见光催化性能最好.     

Efficient fabrication of ZrO2-doped TiO2 hollow nanospheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity of rhodamine B degradation

ZrO(2)-doped TiO(2) hollow nanospheres with anatase phase are efficiently fabricated via functionalized negatively charged polystyrene (PS) spheres without any surfactant or polyelectrolyte. The resulting Ti(1-)(x)Zr(x)O(2) (hereafter denoted as TZ) hollow nanospheres are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), nitrogen sorption, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis). The Zr(4+) incorporation decreases the anatase crystallite size, increases the specific surface area, and changes the pore size distribution. Furthermore, it induces enrichment of electron charge density around Ti(4+) ions and blueshift of absorption edges. The TZ hollow nanospheres doped with moderate ZrO(2) (molar ratio, Ti:Zr=10:1) exhibit better photocatalytic activity than the other samples for the degradation of rhodamine B in aqueous solution, which is correlated with the effect of Zr(4+) doping on the physicochemical properties in terms of surface structures, phase structures, and the electronic structures.     

TiO2-yNx纳米光催化剂的制备及其可见光响应机理

利用溶胶-凝胶技术,以尿素为氮源,采用原位掺杂方式制备了TiO2-yNx纳米粉体;以亚甲基蓝(MB)溶液在可见光下的光催化降解评价其可见光催化活性;考察了体系初始pH值、N的掺杂量和焙烧温度对样品可见光催化活性的影响。 结合XRD、XPS、ESR和DRS测试技术,研究了N掺杂纳米TiO2的可见光响应机理。 研究结果表明,TiO2-yNx纳米粉体的优化制备工艺条件为：体系初始pH=0.52,掺杂比n(N)∶n(Ti)=1∶6,焙烧温度为440 ℃。 此条件下制备的样品N含量为0.77%,为单一的锐钛矿相,平均粒径为19.0 nm,具有良好的可见光催化活性。 N掺杂导致TiO2纳米粉体的表面羟基含量增加,形成了大量束缚单电子的氧空位;N取代晶格O形成了N-Ti-O和O-N-Ti键合结构。 N掺杂导致TiO2纳米粒子的吸收带边红移,对可见光的吸收能力明显增强,这表明N掺杂改变TiO2电子结构,使带隙窄化,降低光响应阈值。 N掺杂TiO2纳米粒子的可见光响应归因于N取代掺杂形成的掺杂能级与氧空位形成的缺陷能级共同作用所致。     

The preparation and characterization of La doped TiO2 nanoparticles and their photocatalytic activity

In this paper, pure and La doped TiO₂ nanoparticles with different La content were prepared by a sol-gel process using Ti (OC₄H₉)₄ as raw material, and also were characterized by XRD, TG-DTA, TEM, XPS, DRS and Photoluminescence (PL) spectra. We mainly investigated the effects of calcining temperature and La content on the properties and the photocatalytic activity for degrading phenol of as-prepared TiO₂ samples, and also discussed the relationships between PL spectra and photocatalytic activity as well as the mechanisms of La doping on TiO₂ phase transformation. The results showed that La³⁺ did not enter into the crystal lattices of TiO₂ and was uniformly dispersed onto TiO₂ as the form of La₂O₃ particles with small size, which possibly made La dopant have a great inhibition on TiO₂ phase transformation; La dopant did not give rise to a new PL signal, but it could improve the intensity of PL spectra with a appropriate La content, which was possibly attributed to the increase in the content of surface oxygen vacancies and defects after doping La; La doped TiO₂ nanoparticles calcined at 600°C exhibited higher photocatalytic activity, indicating that 600°C was an appropriate calcination temperature. The order of photocatalytic activity of La doped TiO₂ samples with different La content was as following: 1>1.5>3>0.5>5>0 mol%, which was the same as the order of their PL intensity, namely, the stronger the PL intensity, the higher the photocatalytic activity, demonstrating that there were certain relationships between PL spectra and photocatalytic activity. This could be explained by the points that PL spectra mainly resulted from surface oxygen vacancies and defects during the process of PL, while surface oxygen vacancies and defects could be favorable in capturing the photoinduced electrons during the process of photocatalytic reactions.     

Doped titanium dioxide nanocrystalline powders with high photocatalytic activity

Doped titanium dioxide nanopowders (M:TiO₂; M=Fe, Co, Nb, Sb) with anatase structure were successfully synthesized through an hydrothermal route preceded by a precipitation doping step. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed by powder XRD and TEM. Thermodynamic stability studies allowed to conclude that the anatase structure is highly stable for all doped TiO₂ prepared compounds. The photocatalytic efficiency of the synthesized nanopowders was tested and the results showed an appreciable enhancement in the photoactivity of the Sb:TiO₂ and Nb:TiO₂, whereas no photocatalytic activity was detected for the Fe:TiO₂ and Co:TiO₂ nanopowders. These results were correlated to the doping ions oxidation states, determined by Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetization data.     

钬掺杂提高TiO2纳米晶光催化活性的光谱性能机制研究

采用酸催化的溶胶-凝胶法制备了未掺杂和掺杂0.5%Ho(摩尔分数)的纳米TiO2光催化剂,以甲基橙的光催化降解为探针反应,评价了其光催化活性。运用XRD,TEM,EDS,FT-IR,UV-Vis DRS以及PL光谱表征技术考察了Ho掺杂对纳米TiO2的微晶尺寸、晶体结构、表面组成与光学性能的影响,并对改性机制作了探讨。结果表明,Ho掺杂可以抑制TiO2由锐钛矿相向金红石相的转变,阻碍TiO2晶粒增长,使TiO2的光吸收带边发生蓝移,增加表面羟基含量,促进光生载流子分离,从而使Ho掺杂TiO2样品光催化降解甲基橙的能力显著增强。     

High temperature stability and photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline anatase powders with Zr and Si co-dopants

TiO₂ nanopowders doped by Si and Zr were prepared by sol–gel method. The effects of Si and Zr doping on the structural, optical, and photo-catalytic properties of titania nanopowders have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy. XRD results suggest that adding impurities has a significant effect on anatase phase stability, crystallinity, and particle size of TiO₂. Titania rutile phase formation in ternary system (Ti–Si–Zr) was inhibited by Zr⁴⁺ and Si⁴⁺ co-doped TiO₂ in high temperatures (500–900 °C) and 36 mol% anatase composition is retained even after calcination at 1,000 °C. The photocatalyst activity was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation kinetics of aqueous methylen orange under visible radiation. The results show that the photocatalytic activity of the 20 %Si and 15 %Zr co-doped TiO₂ nanopowders have a larger degradation efficiency than pure TiO₂ under visible light.