Samarium-doped mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles with improved photocatalytic performance for elimination of gaseous organic pollutants

Mesoporous TiO2 doped with different amounts of Sm were prepared via a sol-gel route with Pluronic P123 as template. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 sorption experiments, etc. The photocatalytic activity of the mesoporous TiO2 was tested in elimination of gaseous methanol and acetone. The Sm doped mesoporous TiO2 have higher activity than those of the commercial photocatalyst (Degussa, P25) and Sm doped TiO2 counterparts without mesopore structure under ultraviolet light irradiation. A possible mechanism was proposed to account for the high photocatalytic activity of the Sm doped mesoporous TiO2. The superior activity of the Sm doped mesoporous TiO2 may be attributed to the synergic effect of the high surface area, mesopore structure and doped Sm species.

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