Surface modification of TiO2 nanoparticles with iron and investigation of their structural, optical and photocatalytic properties

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

10.22034/ijche.2023.384283.1286

Abstract

In order to improve the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method, surface modification was conducted by iron using an impregnation-ultrasound method. XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and FTIR analysis showed Fe3+ ions doped in TiO2 nanoparticles with anatase nanocrystalline structure. Based on the UV-vis DRS results, the presence of iron in the TiO2 structure caused the light absorption to extend to the visible region and reduced the band gap of nanoparticles to 2.93 eV. The activity of TiO2 and Fe-TiO2 nanoparticles in the photocatalytic degradation of direct blue 71 (DB71) dye was investigated under visible light irradiation. Dye degradation reached 90.3% after 180 minutes of irradiation using Fe-TiO2, which indicates the high activity of nanophotocatalyst under visible light irradiation. The main reasons for increasing the photocatalytic activity of Fe-TiO2 are reduction of crystalline size, creation of new energy levels, high absorption of visible light and appropriate charge transfer. A mechanism for the effect of iron on the performance of Fe-TiO2 was presented. Degradation reaction kinetics and stability of Fe-TiO2 nanophotocatalyst were investigated.

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Iranian Chemical Engineering Journal

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 April 2023

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