Photo Catalytic Activity of Rare Earth La(Y)/Rutile TiO2

The rutile TiO₂, La/rutile TiO₂ and Y/rutile TiO₂ were synthesized by one-step method, and the densities of states were investigated by ab initio method. Firstly, the result of ab initio calculation showed that the band gap of La/rutile TiO₂ is less than that of Y/rutile TiO₂ and rutile TiO₂, and the crystal lattice energy of rare earths (La, Y)/rutile TiO₂ are similar to each other. Secondly, the crystal structure and photocatalytic activity of La (Y)/rutile TiO₂ are characterized by XRD, DRS, ζ potential and kinetics reaction of photocatalyzing methyl orange. In a word, the photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange on 1.0wt% La/rutile TiO₂ was better than those on Y/rutile TiO₂ and rutile TiO₂.