Synergistic effects of sulfation and Fe-doping on the photocatalysis of titania

Fe-doped sulfated titania photocatalysts were prepared by one-step thermal hydrolysis of industrial titanyl sulfate and characterized using XRD, FT-IR, UV–Vis DRS, and N₂ adsorption–desorption techniques. The effects of the volume ratio of pre-adding water to TiOSO₄ on the structure of the titania photocatalysts were investigated. The photocatalytic activities of Fe-doped sulfated titania samples were evaluated using the photooxidation of methylene blue in aqueous solutions under UV light irradiation. The results indicate that Fe-doping induces the red shift of the absorption edge to the visible light range. Meanwhile, sulfur species in the form of sulfate are incorporated into the network of Ti–O–Ti and coordinated to titania in bidentate models, which can effectively promote the separation of the photogenerated electrons and holes. Synergistic effects of both are beneficial for improving the photocatalytic activity of the Fe-doped sulfated titania photocatalysts.