Enhancement of Catalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B under Sunlight with Au Loading TiO2 Nanotube Arrays

Abstract

In this paper, gold nanoparticles on highly ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays (Au/TNTA) were prepared via electrochemical anodic oxidation method followed by photodeposition. The prepared samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B(RhB) under simulated sunlight irradiation were carried out. The experiment results showed that the photocatalytic activity of TNTA was greatly enhanced after loading of gold. Both hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and holes are involved in the degradation of RhB.