Preparation and photocatalytic activity of B, Y co-doped nanosized TiO2 catalyst

The catalysts of un-doped, single-doped and co-doped titanium dioxide (TiO2) powders were prepared by sol-gel method with Ti(OC4H9)4 as a raw material. The photocatalytic decomposition of phenol in aqueous solution under UV light was used as a probe reaction to evaluate their photocatalytic activities. The effects of B, Y co-doping on the crystallite sizes, crystal pattern, surface composition, and optical property of the catalyst were investigated by thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS). It was confirmed that co-doping TiO2 was activated by visible light and used as an effective catalyst in photooxidation reactions. The photocatalytic activity of B, Y co-doped TiO2 was markedly improved due to the cooperative actions of the two dopants.