Electronic band structure, optical absorption, and photocatalytic activity of iron-doped anatase

Quasi-one-dimensional solid solutions of the composition Ti_{1 ? x} Fe _x O_{2 ? x/2} (0.005 ≤ x ≤ 0.050) with the anatase-type structure and extended aggregates have been prepared by the precursor method. The absorption spectra of the solid solutions have been investigated in the ultraviolet and visible regions, and the photocatalytic activity in the oxidation reaction of hydroquinone in water has been estimated. It has been found that the synthesized solid solutions serve as photocatalysts only under ultraviolet irradiation, and their photoactivity increases with an increase in the dopant concentration. The first-principles calculations of the electronic band structure and optical absorption in iron-doped anatase and rutile have been performed using the pseudopotential method LSDA + U (with the VASP software package). The on-site exchange-correlation parameters have been calibrated in the calculations of the electronic band structure of hematite α-Fe₂O₃ and ilmenite FeTiO₃. It has been shown that, despite the appearance of impurity states within the band gap of anatase and rutile, doping with iron does not cause substantial absorption in the visible region, which correlates with the increase in photocatalytic activity only under ultraviolet irradiation. The most probable cause of the experimentally observed absorption in the visible region is the presence of finely dispersed hematite impurities in the obtained samples.