Fabrication and characterization of Ag- and Cu-doped TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) by in situ anodization method as an efficient photocatalyst

In this study, copper (Cu) and silver (Ag)-doped TiO2 nanotubes were fabricated by in situ anodization method to improve their photocatalytic performance. The resulting nanotubes (NTs) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Mott-Schottky analysis. The SEM study shows the formation of NT structure and reveals that the doping does not affect the surface morphology. The XPS analysis proves that a mixture of Ag-0/Ag+ and Cu+/Cu2+ exists simultaneously on the surface of the Ag- and Cu-doped TiO2 NTs, respectively. XRD and Raman spectroscopy analyses show that the doping shifted the anatase and rutile phase transformation and stabilized the anatase phase. The Mott-Schottky measurements demonstrate that the potential of the flat band shifted to negative values by doping. The prepared NTs were evaluated in methylene blue (MB) photodegradation under UV. The results reveal that the doped TiO2 NTs were more efficient than pure TiO2 NTs in the degradation of MB. The Cu-doped TiO2 NTs exhibited excellent degradation efficiency of about 92.61% with a kinetic rat 0.0089 min(-1). Furthermore, the reusability studies showed that the photocatalysts are globally stable and efficient for the degradation of MB.

Journal

JOURNAL OF SOLID STATE ELECTROCHEMISTRY

Year

2022

Volume

26

Issue

10

Pages

2247-2260

ISSN

1432-8488

eISSN

1433-0768

DOI

10.1007/s10008-022-05237-4

WoS UID

WOS:000825217600001