Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic properties of nanostructured lanthanide doped β-NaYF4/TiO2 composite films

Abstract

The photocatalytic approach is known to be one of the most promising advanced oxidation processes for the tertiary treatment of polluted water. In this paper, β-NaYF4/TiO2 composite films have been synthetized through a novel sol–gel/spin-coating approach using a mixture of β-diketonate complexes of Na and Y, and Yb3+, Tm3+, Gd3+, Eu3+ as doping ions, together with the TiO2 P25 nanoparticles. The herein pioneering approach represents an easy, straightforward and industrially appealing method for the fabrication of doped β-NaYF4/TiO2 composites. The effect of the doped β-NaYF4 phase on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) has been deeply investigated. In particular, the upconverting TiO2/β-NaYF4: 20%Yb, 2% Gd, x% Tm (x = 0.5 and 1%) and the downshifting TiO2/β-NaYF4: 10% Eu composite films have been tested on MB degradation both under UV and visible light irradiation. An improvement up to 42.4% in the degradation of MB has been observed for the TiO2/β-NaYF4: 10% Eu system after 240 min of UV irradiation.

Incorporation of Upconverting LiYF4:Yb3+, Tm3+ Nanoparticles with High Quantum Yield in TiO2 Metallogels for Near Infrared-Driven Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

“…In addition, reproducibility, stability, and scalability of these structures are also challenging tasks. These issues can be tackled to an extent by alternate strategies such as composite thin films . In this regard, embedding UCNPs in TiO 2 -based metallogels could potentially be an excellent strategy to efficient composites with an intimate mixing of the two components.…”

“…These issues can be tackled to an extent by alternate strategies such as composite thin films. 67 In this regard, embedding UCNPs in TiO 2 -based metallogels could potentially be an excellent strategy to efficient composites with an intimate mixing of the two components. We describe here preliminary results on the preparation of transparent UCNPs-embedded TiO 2 metallogels as a precursor to UCNPs-TiO 2 xerogels having high surface area.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Transparent Photocatalytic Zto Coatings

“…Photocatalytic decomposition of organic substances occurs on the surface of a photocatalyst [11][12][13][14]. It is known that an increase in the specific surface increases the photocatalytic activity of coatings [15,16].…”