Characterisation, phase stability and surface chemical properties of photocatalytic active Zr and Y co-doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles

We report on the characterization, phase stability, surface chemical and photocatalytic properties of Zr and Y co-doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by homogenous hydrolysis methods using urea as precipitating agent. The materials were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, BET isotherm and BJH pore size distribution measurements. It is shown that Y and Zr ions replace Ti ions in the anatase TiO2 structures up to a critical total dopant concentration of approximately 13 wt%. The co-doped particles show increased phase stability compared to pure anatase TiO2 nanoparticles. The anatase to rutile phase transformation is shown to be preceded by cation segregation and dissolution with concomitant precipitation of Y2Ti2−xZrxO7 and ZrTiO4. Co-doping modifies the optical absorption edge with a resulting attenuation of the Urbach tail. The band gap is slightly blue-shifted at high doping concentrations, and red shifted at lower doping concentrations. Formic acid adsorption was used as a probe molecule to investigate surface chemical properties and adsorbate structures. It was found that the relative abundance of monodentate formate compared to bidentate coordinated formate decreases with increasing doping concentration. This is attributed to an increased surface acidity with increasing dopant concentration. Photodegradation of formic acid occurred on all samples. With mode-resolved in situ FTIR spectroscopy it is shown that the rate of photodegradation of monodentate formate species are higher than for bidentate formate species. Thus our results show that the trend of decreasing photo-degradation rate with increasing dopant concentration can be explained by the adsorbate structure, which is controlled by the acidity of the surface.

Phase transition of Y and Zr co-doped anatase TiO2 and precipitation of ZrTiO4 as well as photocatalytic degradation of formic acid. Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► Precipitation of cations occurs upon anatase to rutile phase transformation.
► Doping increase surface acidity and affect the structure of the adsorbed formic acid.
► Photocatalytic degradation rates correlates with increased surface acidity.