Issue 29, 2015

Modification mechanism of praseodymium doping for the photocatalytic performance of TiO2: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

Impurity doping is a simple and efficient modification method to improve the photocatalytic performance of wide band gap photocatalysts. However, some basic and important issues about the mechanism of impurity doping modification still need to be further confirmed and explained. In the present work, Pr-doped TiO2 with a mono-phase crystal structure was prepared by a sol–gel method. Then, the crystal structure, binding information, optical absorption, and photocatalytic activity were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that Pr doping could significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2, and the effects of modification on rutile TiO2 are more obvious than for anatase TiO2. In order to understand the underlying mechanism, density functional theory was utilized to calculate the crystal structure and electronic structure of pure and Pr-doped TiO2. The differences in electronic structure between anatase and rutile phases lead to the above photocatalytic performance. The experimental measurements and theoretical calculations mutually support each other in the present work. Two points are confirmed: the position of the band edge determines the redox activity of the photocatalyst, and the shallow energy bands induced by impurity doping could improve the photocatalytic performance.

Graphical abstract: Modification mechanism of praseodymium doping for the photocatalytic performance of TiO2: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Apr 2015
Accepted
19 Jun 2015
First published
19 Jun 2015

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015,17, 19087-19095

Author version available

Modification mechanism of praseodymium doping for the photocatalytic performance of TiO2: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Z. Duan, Z. Zhao and Q. Shi, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 17, 19087 DOI: 10.1039/C5CP02473K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements