Photocatalytic activity of iron doped nanocrystalline titania for the oxidative degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol

Pure and iron doped (0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1 wt.%) nanocrystalline TiO2 have been synthesized by combining sol–gel technique with hydrothermal treatment. The resulting nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS), Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. UV–vis DRS results showed that iron doping caused significant absorption shift towards visible region compared to Degussa P-25 and pure TiO2. EPR spectra showed the presence of iron +3 oxidation state in TiO2. From TEM image, it is obvious that the particle size is ranging from 10 to 30 nm. The photocatalytic activity of synthesized samples was investigated for the oxidative degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) in aqueous suspension. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 doped with 0.5 wt.% Fe exceeded those of non-doped commercial and synthesized pure TiO2.