Self-doped TiO sub(2) hierarchical hollow spheres with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

The self-doped TiO sub(2) hierarchical hollow spheres were successfully prepared by a facile sol-gel method using the carbon spheres as templates. Characteristics and properties of the products were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetry (DSC/TG), X-ray diffraction (XR...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of alloys and compounds 2015-08, Vol.640, p.68-74
Main Authors: Yin, HYong, Wang, XLong, Wang, Ling, QLin, N, Zhao, HTing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon
Differential scanning calorimetry
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Photocatalysis
Scanning electron microscopy
Titanium dioxide
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
X-rays
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Summary:The self-doped TiO sub(2) hierarchical hollow spheres were successfully prepared by a facile sol-gel method using the carbon spheres as templates. Characteristics and properties of the products were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetry (DSC/TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), photocurrent measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the self-doped TiO sub(2) hierarchical hollow spheres, with diameters about 800-950 nm and shell thickness of 20-30 nm, were constituted with thousands of self-doped TiO sub(2) nanoparticles with diameters of 20-30 nm. The Ti super(3+) was investigated in the calcinated samples which suggested that there existed stable Ti super(3+) in the bulk of self-doped TiO sub(2) hollow spheres. The as prepared samples showed improved solar light and visible light induced photocatalytic activities by decomposing Rhodamine B. The improved visible light photocatalytic activities may be due to the oxygen vacancies and Ti super(3+)+ localized states of the self-doped TiO sub(2) hierarchical hollow spheres.
ISSN:0925-8388
DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.03.216