Improvement of the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 by (Fe+Mo) co-doping-A possible way to retard the recombination process

Low visible light absorption and high charge carrier recombination rate are two main disadvantages of TiO2 as a photocatalyst which severely limit its practical applications. To overcome the problems, Fe mono-doped and (Fe+Mo) co-doped TiO2 were synthesized and studied. It was found that (Fe+Mo) co-doping can further increase the visible absorption and improve the photocatalytic property of TiO2 compared with Fe mono-doping; Fe mono-doping improves the photocatalytic property of TiO2 only at very low doping level (Fe concentration less than 1.0%), while by co-doping a small amount of Mo with Fe, the effective doping concentration of Fe can be pushed to a higher level and the photocatalytic property of TiO2 can be further improved. Photoluminescence spectra indicated that Mo dopant may play a role in retarding the recombination process when co-doped into TiO2 with Fe. The mechanism behind was discussed. It was suggested that doping a small amount of Mo into Fe-TiO2 might be an efficient way to further improve the photocatalytic property of Fe-TiO2 without losing its photocatalytic specificity. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.