Visible-light-active silver- , vanadium-codoped TiO2 with improved photocatalytic activity

Optimized doped TiO2 is necessary for efficient visible light harvesting and widening the applications spectrum of TiO2-based materials. Titanium dioxide doped with silver and/or vanadium has been synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal method without post-calcination. Codoping induced visible light absorption while maintaining the photoactive anatase phase along with good crystallinity. Synthesized products are in nanometer range and possess high specific surface area. Having nearly spherical morphology, the particles are distributed and the particle size estimated from TEM observation is in accordance with the XRD results. Spectroscopic investigations reveal that the doped atoms successfully entered the TiO2 lattice modifying the band structure. The narrowed band gap allows visible light photons for absorption, and the codoped samples displayed enhanced visible light absorption among the synthesized samples. Photodegradation performance evaluated under visible light irradiations showed that silver- , vanadium-codoped TiO2 have the best visible light photocatalytic activity attributed to stable configuration, high visible light absorption, coupling between silver and vanadium and their optimal doping concentration.