Preparation and characterization of visible light sensitive Fe- and Ta-codoped TiO2 photocatalyst

Titania (TiO2) was modified by codoping of Fe3+ and Ta5+ to absorb visible light. The codoped titania [(Fe,Ta)(x)Ti1-xO2, 0 <= x <= 1] were prepared by a solid state reaction or by the polymer complex method. With increased codoping, the optical absorption spectra are red-shifted and the color ranges from white to brown via yellow. Also, the codoped titania (0 < x <= 0.05) possesses photocatalytic activity for organic decomposition under visible light irradiation. The codoped titania (x = 0.01) with yellow color shows the highest activity among the codoped titania (0 < x < 1) and a higher activity than the 1% Fe3+-doped TiO2 with orange brown color.