Surface modification of TiO2 for visible light photocatalysis: Experimental and theoretical calculations of its electronic and optical properties
Abstract
Surface modification has been used as a method to create defects on TiO2 materials, which can improve their desirable properties. In this paper, defected TiO2 nano-powder was successfully synthesized by chemical reduction using NaBH4 as the reducing agent at 300–400∘C under argon atmosphere. High defect concentration can be produced by increasing process temperature. The modified TiO2 shows good visible light absorption and photocatalytic activity on degradation of Rhodamine B (4–9 times higher than the pristine TiO2) with the visible light irradiation. Further XPS analysis and theoretical studies using full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method as implemented in wien2k code revealed the existence of oxygen vacancy and Ti3+ in the modified samples. These types of defects were responsible for the modifications of the electronic and optical properties of TiO2, resulting in the improved photocatalytic activity in visible light irradiation.
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