Titanium dioxide nanomaterial doped with trivalent lanthanide ions of Tb, Eu and Sm: Preparation, characterization and potential applications

Mesoporous Ln(III)–TiO2 (Ln = Tb, Eu, Sm) nanomaterials composites have been successfully synthesized by using sol–gel technique. XRD pattern, FT-IR, Raman spectra, and SEM were used to characterize the Ln(III)–TiO2 nanomaterials. The prepared lanthanide doped TiO2 nanomaterials have anatase phase and exhibit Ti–O–Ln bond. The absorption spectra of all prepared samples reflect the increasing photoresponse of doped samples to visible light over pure TiO2. Surface area is remarkably increased due to lanthanide ion-doping. Two newly prepared Ln(III)–TiO2 (Ln = Eu, Sm) luminescent nanomaterials exhibit enhanced pure red or orange light emission due to energy transfer from host TiO2 to guest Eu(III) or Sm(III), respectively. In addition, the commercially available textile dye Remazol Red RB-133 degradation was used as a probe reaction to determine the efficiency of the Ln(III)–TiO2 photocatalysts. The Ln(III) doping brought about remarkable improvement in the photoactivity over pure TiO2.