Preparation and Characterization of Bi³⁺‐TiO₂ and its Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Abstract Bi 3+ ‐TiO 2 photocatalysts were prepared by doping bismuth ion into the TiO 2 structure in a sol‐gel process. The catalyst samples were then characterized by UV‐vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Rodamine‐B (RhB) was used in this study as a model chemical with the aim of organic pollutants control. The photocatalytic degradation of RhB demonstrated that an optimal loading of bismuth 0.7 at. % achieved the highest photodegradation rate, with the rate constant increasing by a factor of 3.89 over neat TiO 2 (P25) under UV illumination ( λ ≥ 320 nm). The degradation of p ‐nitrobenzonic acid ( p NBA) was also examined to prevent/preclude/exclude/ the photosensitization pathway. GC‐MS results show that p NBA can be effectively degraded and minerized to small molecules, such as quinone, acetic acid and formic acid.