Sol-gel synthesis of metal ions doped TiO2 catalyst with efficient photodegradation of dye pollutant

Water pollution problem is a significant trouble in our life. The photodegradation of organic pollutants in water, which is an environmentally friendly and economically feasible approach, has attracted considerable attention. Titanium oxide (TiO2) is one of the most popular photocatalysts with high oxidation ability and excellent stability. In order to break the limitation of light absorption caused by the wide band gap, we synthesized metal ions doped TiO2 via sol-gel method. The doped TiO2 exhibited remarkable activity and stability in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). Among the obtained materials, V/TiO2 and Mo/TiO2 had the superior performance of of > 98% within 30 min for photodegradation of MB. Further investigation of the mechanism revealed the promoted utilization of solar energy as well as the enhanced electron hole pairs of V/TiO2 and Mo/TiO2, which allowed the boost of catalytic activity.