Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

Abstract

Titanium dioxide photocatalysts have received a lot of attention during the past decades due to their ability to degrade various organic pollutants to CO 2 and H 2 O, which makes them suitable for use in environmental related fields such as air and water treatment and self-cleaning surfaces. In this work, titania thin films and powders were prepared by a particulate sol–gel route, using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ) as a precursor. Afterwards, the prepared sols were doped with nitrogen (ammonium nitrate, urea), sulfur (thiourea) and platinum (chloroplatinic acid), coated onto glass substrates by dip-coating, and thermally treated in a muffle furnace to promote crystallization. The resulting thin films were then characterized by various techniques (i.e., TGA-DSC-MS, XRD, BET, XPS, SEM, band gap measurements). The photocatalytic activity of the prepared thin films was determined by measuring the degradation rate of plasmocorinth B (PB), an organic pigment used in the textile industry, which can pose an environmental risk when expelled into wastewater. A kinetic model for adsorption and subsequent degradation was used to fit the experimental data. The results have shown an increase in photocatalytic activity under visible-light illumination of nonmetal and metal doped and co-doped titania thin films compared to an undoped sample.