Facile Synthesis and Enhanced Photocatalysis of Sm Doped TiO2

Abstract

Sm doped nanocrystalline TiO2 powers were prepared by ultrasonic assisted sol-gel synthesis. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), respectively. Both of undoped TiO2 and Sm-TiO2 samples exclusively consist of primary anatase crystallites, which further form spherical aggregates with average diameters ranging from 11 to 19 nm. The photocatalytic activity of Sm-TiO2 was investigated on the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under UV visible light irradiation. Sm doping improves effectively the photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation with an optimal doping concentration of 0.5%. The photocatalytic mechanisms of Sm-TiO2 catalysts were tentatively discussed