High photoactivity rutile-type TiO2 particles co-doped with multiple elements under visible light irradiation

In this study, wool fibers were used as the source of doping species to prepare the rutile-type TiO2 photocatalyst for the treatment of dyeing wastewaters. The urchin-like rutile-type TiO2 particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersion x-ray, laser particle size analyzer, x-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller nitrogen adsorption-desorption, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectra techniques. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye aqueous solution was measured under visible light irradiation. The experimental results show that the urchin-like rutile type of TiO2 particles produced by using wool exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity than those TiO2 particles without doped with wool under visible light irradiation. The high photoactivity of these urchin-like rutile-type TiO2 particle is attributed to the co-doping of multiple elements including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and chlorine, the larger specific surface area, and the positive zeta potential. This research provides a relatively simpler route to synthesize TiO2 photocatalyst having high photocatalytic activities.