Synthesis of highly active H2O2-sensitized sulfated titania nanoparticles with a response to visible light

In this paper, we reported the synthesis of sulfated TiO2 sensitized with hydrogen peroxide. These prepared TiO2 showed high photocatalytic activity under the visible light (λ > 420 nm). X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron micrograph (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), BET N2 adsorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the properties of the synthesized TiO2. The results indicated that anatase TiO2 with strong surface acidity was obtained. The photocatalytic activity of sulfated TiO2 was compared with that of the commercially available Degussa P25 titanium dioxide by degrading methyl orange (MO) aqueous solutions. The degradation of MO on sulfated TiO2 under optimal calcining conditions was significantly faster than that on the P25. The active sulfates anchoring on the surface of TiO2, Ti ions in a tetrahedral coordination and the strong vis absorption may mainly contribute to the high photocatalytic activity of sulfated TiO2 sensitized with hydrogen peroxide under the visible light.