Flame-sprayed pure and Ce-doped TiO2 photocatalysts

Abstract

Pure and Ce-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized in one step by means of the scalable flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) process. Complete structural and chemical characterization of these materials revealed that the majority of the nanoparticles are crystalline and spherical, ranging from 5 to 45 nm in diameter. The band gap of TiO2 was reduced by doping with Ce from 2.43 to 3.06 eV and the Ce–TiO2 nanoparticles exhibit a strong photoelectrical response to visible light illumination. Ce–TiO2 nanoparticles obtained with this scalable method are trivially scalable to industrial level manufacturing, granting and enabling additional approaches for the actual application of ceramic oxide nanomaterials to combat challenges such as environmental cleanup and energy production from the visible part of solar inputs.