Preparation and activity evaluation of p-n junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2

p-n Junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2 was prepared by sol-gel method using Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and tetrabutyl titanate [Ti(OC4H9)4] as the raw materials. The p-n junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2 was characterized by UV-vis diffuse reflection spectrum, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst was evaluated by photocatalytic reduction of Cr2O72− and photocatalytic oxidation of rhodamine B. The results show that, for photocatalytic reduction of Cr2O72−, the optimum percentage of doped-NiO is 0.5% (mole ratio of Ni/Ti). The photocatalytic activity of the p-n junction NiO/TiO2 is much higher than that of TiO2 on the photocatalytic reduction of Cr2O72−. However, the photocatalytic activity of the p-n junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2 is much lower than that of TiO2 on the photocatalytic oxidation of rhodamine B. Namely, the p-n junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2 has higher photocatalytic reduction activity, but lower photocatalytic oxidation activity. Effects of heat treatment on the photocatalytic activity of p-n junction photocatalyst NiO/TiO2 were investigated. The mechanisms of influence on the photocatalytic activity were also discussed by the p-n junction principle.