Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of Sn-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays

TiO2 nanotube arrays doped by Sn up to 12 at% have been prepared using template-based liquid phase deposition method. Their morphologies, structures and optical properties have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic properties of the samples were evaluated with the degradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation. The result shows that doping an appropriate amount of Sn can effectively improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotube arrays, and the optimum dopant amount is found to be 5.6 at% in our experiments.