Research Synthesis of La3+ Doped TiO2 Nanoparticles by Hydrothermal Method, Study on Photocatalytic Activity of Decomposition of Methylene Blue under Ultraviolet Irradiation

Abstract

In this study, with the aim of improving the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO₂, we studied the synthesis of La³⁺ doped TiO₂ (with doped rates 1%, 2.5%, 5% mol/mol compared to Ti⁴⁺) by hydrothermal method. The hydrothermal condition was set at 180 °C for 12 hours. Material characteristics were investigated by XRD, SEM and solid UV-Vis methods. The results show that, all prepared materials have a crystal particle size of about nano-meters, small and smooth (4.5¸6.5 nm). La³⁺  doped TiO₂ samples had a shift towards longer wavelengths (l» 400¸500 nm) compared to non-doped TiO₂ sample (l£ 380 nm). The band gap energy (Eg) of La³⁺ doped TiO₂ samples was reduced to 3.04¸3.10 eV . The yield of MB degradation of La³⁺ doped TiO₂ at 5% mol/mol reached the highest ~93% after 60 minutes under ultraviolet irradiation.
Keywords
Anatase TiO₂, photocatalysis, La³⁺ doped TiO₂, hydrothermal method, ultraviolet irradiation.  

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