Boosting the mineralization of reactive black 5 dye with Y- or H2-doped anatase phase: Equivalent induced photocatalytic effect

Abstract

Y-, Ce-doped TiO2-(N2-HT) were prepared by a modified sol-gel chemical route. For the sake of comparison, the as-prepared oxide material was also heat-treated in dinitrogen and dihydrogen gas atmosphere at 600 °C. The derivative peak-fitting of diffuse reflectance (DPR) revealed several optical band energies, as a result of the modification by Y, Ce and gas as doping agents. BET surface of samples as well as microstrain, deduced from XRD analysis, are function of the materials’ crystallite size. Titania's surface chemistry was not affected by the heat treatment under N2 and H2. Finally, a similar photocatalytic effect was obtained with Y-TiO2-(N2-HT) 400°C and TiO2-(H2-HT) 600°C. This phenomenon was correlated with the resistivity at the grain boundary, and to the intergranular resistivity.