Noticeably Improved Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 Nanoparticles through co-Doping of Activated Charcoal and Fe Towards Methylene Blue Degradation

Abstract

Generating enormous oxygen radicals with metal oxides is a viable route to achieve efficient and eco-friendly photocatalysis. To this aim, we co-doped the TiO2 nanoparticles with activated charcoal (AC) and Fe (transition element) for the methylene blue (MB) dye degradation. The AC significantly enhances the adsorption of MB on the TiO2 surface, whereas the Fe dopants decrease its bandgap. To begin with, the modified TiO2 is prepared with chemical methods and the structural and morphological recordings are performed with XRD and FESEM, respectively. Then the elemental compositions and their oxidation states are probed with XPS analysis. The efficient charge carrier separation under white light illumination enhances the photocatalytic activity of modified TiO2 than its counterpart. The photocatalytic studies show that, 56 and 74 % of methylene blue dye degradation occurs with Fe doped TiO2 and AC doped TiO2 respectively. Interestingly, a maximum catalytic efficiency of 98 % is obtained for the Fe, AC co-doped TiO2 samples in 90 min, and we provide a novel strategy to convert the large bandgap TiO2 into visible light photocatalyst.