Issue 22, 2015

Highly crystalline Ti-doped SnO2 hollow structured photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic dyes

Abstract

We developed a facile infiltration route for synthesizing hollow-structured SnO2 with an adjustable Ti doping content using SiO2 microspheres as hard templates via an improved Stober method. The microstructures of as-prepared Ti-doped SnO2 samples were characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and N2 adsorption and desorption techniques. The photocatalytic activity of hollow-structured Ti-doped SnO2 photocatalysts was investigated via the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under UV and visible-light illumination in a photochemical reactor. It was revealed that hollow-structured Ti-doped SnO2 spherical specimens display enhanced photocatalytic activity for decomposing MB compared with a pure SnO2 sample. In comparison with pure SnO2 hollow spherical sample, Ti-doped SnO2 with a doping content of 20 mol% displays the highest photocatalytic activity, with 92% MB photocatalytically decomposed under UV light irradiation, with 54% MB photocatalytically decomposed under visible light irradiation, within a degradation time of 135 min, respectively. The relation between microstructure, optical response, and photocatalytic performance is discussed and analyzed. The enhancement in photocatalytic performance of Ti-doped SnO2 can be attributed to the following reasons. Homogeneous doping of Ti into the lattice of SnO2 prevents the recombination of electron–hole pairs and expands the range of usable excitation light to the visible-light region. In addition, the highly crystalline state, large surface area, and large pore size of Ti-doped SnO2 also contribute to the improved photocatalytic activity of the Ti-doped SnO2 samples.

Graphical abstract: Highly crystalline Ti-doped SnO2 hollow structured photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic dyes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Jan 2015
Accepted
13 Apr 2015
First published
15 Apr 2015

CrystEngComm, 2015,17, 4225-4237

Author version available

Highly crystalline Ti-doped SnO2 hollow structured photocatalyst with enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic dyes

L. Ran, D. Zhao, X. Gao and L. Yin, CrystEngComm, 2015, 17, 4225 DOI: 10.1039/C5CE00184F

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