Aerosol-assisted flow synthesis of WxTi1−xO2 solid solution spheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this paper, W_xTi_1−xO₂ solid solutions (x = 0.000, 0.005, 0.010, 0.015, and 0.020) microspheres were synthesized with an aerosol-assisted flow synthesis method. The resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen sorption, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared catalysts were measured by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). All the solid solutions exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than pure TiO₂ and the W_0.015Ti_0.985O₂ solid solution possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The degradation constant of RhB on W_0.015Ti_0.985O₂ solid solution catalyst was about 15 times of that of the pure TiO₂ and 25 times of that of Degussa P25, respectively. This study provides an effective method to prepare visible light photocatalysts on a large scale.