Physicochemical and photocatalytic characterizations of TiO2/Pt nanocomposites

Spherical and uniform Pt nanoparticles with sizes of 2-6 nm have been formed on TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowires by microwave irradiation and exhibited very high photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methyl orange. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that the TiO2/Pt composites contained mostly Pt(0), with traces of Pt(II) and Pt(IV). These results indicate that nanoparticles of platinum were formed on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowire. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that TiO2/Pt composites only displayed the characteristic diffraction peaks of a TiO2 anatase structure. TiO2/Pt composites exhibited very high photocatalytic activities in the decomposition of methyl orange.