Research Article
P. Kokila, V. Senthilkumar, K.
Abstract
Pure TiO2 exhibits low photocatalytic property due to rapid recombination of photo-activated electrons and holes. Fe3+ was considered to dope into TiO2 photo catalyst in order to enhance the photocatalytic property. The Fe3+ doped TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method and calcined at 400°C for 2h. The synthesized powders were characterized by Uv-Vis, XRD, SEM, FT-IR and photocatalytic activity was determined by means of degradation of methyl orange solution under UV light irradiation. Fe3+ doping into TiO2 has an effect on inhibition of anatase crystal growth, led to the enlargement of the composite specific surface area. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity of Fe3+ doped TiO2 composite in proper concentration was greater than those of pure TiO2 and 0.5 mol% Fe3+ doping exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity.