Effect of Erbium on the Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 /Ag Nanocomposites under Visible Light Irradiation

Natarajan Prakash; Rajan Karthikeyan; Dheivasigamani Thangaraju; Mani Navaneethan; Mukannan Arivanandhan; Tadanobu Koyama; Yasuhiro Hayakawa

doi:10.1002/cphc.201500492

Effect of Erbium on the Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 /Ag Nanocomposites under Visible Light Irradiation

Chemphyschem. 2015 Oct 5;16(14):3084-92. doi: 10.1002/cphc.201500492. Epub 2015 Aug 14.

Authors

Natarajan Prakash¹, Rajan Karthikeyan¹, Dheivasigamani Thangaraju², Mani Navaneethan², Mukannan Arivanandhan³, Tadanobu Koyama², Yasuhiro Hayakawa^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan).
² Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan).
³ Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, Tamil Nadu (India).
⁴ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan). royhaya@ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp.
⁵ Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan). royhaya@ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp.

PMID: 26274932
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201500492

Abstract

Erbium co-doped TiO2 /Ag catalysts are synthesized by using a simple, one-step solvothermal method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The catalysts exhibit anatase crystal structures with increased visible light absorption compared with pure TiO2 . Enhanced photocatalytic activity is observed with Er co-doped TiO2 /Ag nanocomposites for Rhodamine B degradation under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity of 1 % Er co-doped TiO2 /Ag is much higher than that of TiO2 /Ag, TiO2 /Er, pure TiO2 , and commercial Degussa P25. The kinetics of the degradation process are studied and the pseudo-first-order rate constant (k) and half-life time (t1/2 ) of the reaction are calculated. The enhanced activity might be accredited to the efficient separation of electron-hole pairs by silver and higher visible light absorption of TiO2 induced by Er.

Keywords: doping; nanostructures; photocatalysis; rare earths; titania.