New Method to Synthesize S-Doped TiO₂ with Stable and Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Performance under Indoor Sunlight Irradiation

Abstract

In this paper, we report a new, low-cost, and facile solvothermal approach to synthesize visible-light-active S-doped TiO2 (S-TiO2) by using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as both the S source and the solvent. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) solidly confirmed the presence of S element in the final product. The as-prepared S-TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited excellent and long-term stable photocatalytic performance for the degradation of organic pollutants under visible and indoor sunlight illumination. The catalyst still maintained high photoactivity even after several months of exposure to the indoor sunlight irradiation. This result suggests a new approach to achieve stable and highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts for water purification.