Visible light-active iron-doped anatase nanocrystallites and their self-cleaning property

To extend and improve photocatalytic activity of TiO2 in UV–visible region and reduce electron–hole recombination, Fe3+ doped anatase nanocrystallites were synthesized by a sol–gel process in an aqueous solution at a temperature of 60 °C with the addition of Fe3+ dopant. The Fe3+ dopant with various doping level was investigated. Superior self-cleaning performance was achieved for the optimal doped anatase nanocrystals when compared to that of the pure TiO2 through the evaluation of colorant decomposition, the degradation of a coffee stain, and a red wine stain under UV and visible light irradiation. The study demonstrated that it is feasible to apply Fe3+ doped anatase nanocrystallites to materials with low thermal resistance, such as textiles and other biomaterials as the doped anatase nanocrystals were formed during the sol–gel process without the need of any post-thermal treatment and the use of aqueous based sol–gel process instead of previously reported solvent-based ones is more environmentally friendly and suitable for large-scale fabrication.