Photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under UV irradiation over anatase TiO2:Ln3+ nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract TiO2:Ln3+ (Ln3+: Ce3+, Yb3+ and Sm3+) nanoparticles were prepared by solgel method under laboratory ambient conditions by using titanium tetraisopropoxide (C12H28O4Ti) as the TiO2 source and template, and the as-synthetized samples were characterized by XRD and UV-vis DRS techniques. XRD patterns shows that the as- prepared nanomaterials exhibit tetragonal anatase-phase. The photoactivity of the synthetized catalysts was tested in the photocatalytic degradation of a Rhodamine B solution exposed to the following radiation wavelenghts (254 nm, 350 nm, 365 nm, and 385 nm). UV-vis espectroscopy analysis of the samples was used to estimate the band gap energy of the samples.