Abstract
Generating enormous oxygen radicals with metal oxides is a viable route to achieve efficient and eco‐friendly photocatalysis. To this aim, we co‐doped the TiO2 nanoparticles with activated charcoal (AC) and Fe (transition element) for the methylene blue (MB) dye degradation. The AC significantly enhances the adsorption of MB on the TiO2 surface, whereas the Fe dopants decrease its bandgap. To begin with, the modified TiO2 is prepared with chemical methods and the structural and morphological recordings are performed with XRD and FESEM, respectively. Then the elemental compositions and their oxidation states are probed with XPS analysis. The efficient charge carrier separation under white light illumination enhances the photocatalytic activity of modified TiO2 than its counterpart. The photocatalytic studies show that, 56 and 74 % of methylene blue dye degradation occurs with Fe doped TiO2 and AC doped TiO2 respectively. Interestingly, a maximum catalytic efficiency of 98 % is obtained for the Fe, AC co‐doped TiO2 samples in 90 min, and we provide a novel strategy to convert the large bandgap TiO2 into visible light photocatalyst.
The improved photocatalytic activity of co‐doped TiO2 nanoparticles (with activated charcoal and Fe as dopants) is demonstrated. The elemental analysis confirms the incorporation of dopants in TiO2 lattice. The dopant plays an important role in tuning the optoelectronic properties and the active surface area of the host TiO2. Consequently, its photocatalytic activity has enhanced to 98 % towards the degradation of methylene blue dye and the mechanisms are discussed.