Synthesis and characterisation of W–Bi–S-tridoped TiO₂ nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In the present work, W–Bi–S-tridoped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesised by a simple sol–gel method. The structure and morphology of as-prepared W–Bi–S-tridoped TiO2 were characterised by using X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum. It was found that the W–Bi–S-tridoped TiO2 nanoparticles were well crystallised with a small size distribution. The absorption edge of TiO2 was extended into visible-light region obviously after being doped with W, Bi and S. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue was used as a probe reaction to evaluate the efficiency of W, Bi and S doping. The W–Bi–S-tridoped TiO2 exhibited the best photocatalytic activity, compared with TiO2, S-TiO2, W–S–TiO2 and Bi–S–TiO2. The mechanism that enhanced photocatalytic activity might be attributed to the synergistic effect of W, Bi and S.

Modified Titanium Dioxide for Photocatalytic Applications

“…The absorption of TiO 2 nanoparticles was expanded into the visible light region and the band gap was narrowed to ~3.0 eV, resulting in improved photocatalytic H 2 evolution under UV-visible light irradiation. Tan et al[83] investigated the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue…”