Effect of Ga in the photocatalytic properties of TiO2

Abstract

In this work we prepared a series of GaZn/TiO2 (5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt% of Ga) photocatalysts by the sol-gel method. The X-ray diffraction results showed the presence of TiO2 in anatase phase. Also, in the GaZn/TiO2 system a small peak assigned to Ga2O3 is present. The specific surface area of the Zn/TiO2 is 97 m 2/g and the specific surface area increases to 132 m2/g when the amount of Ga increases. The energy band gap values obtained by UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy are 2.9, 3.12 and 3.15 eV for 5GaZn/TiO 2, 10GaZn/TiO2 and 15GaZn/TiO2 respectively. The results of the photocatalytic activity show that the total destruction of phenol is more efficient in GaZn/TiO2 than in the Zn/TiO2 photocatalysts. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.