Aerosol-assisted flow synthesis of WxTi1−xO2 solid solution spheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this paper, WxTi1−xO2 solid solutions (x = 0.000, 0.005, 0.010, 0.015, and 0.020) microspheres were synthesized with an aerosol-assisted flow synthesis method. The resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen sorption, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared catalysts were measured by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). All the solid solutions exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than pure TiO2 and the W0.015Ti0.985O2 solid solution possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The degradation constant of RhB on W0.015Ti0.985O2 solid solution catalyst was about 15 times of that of the pure TiO2 and 25 times of that of Degussa P25, respectively. This study provides an effective method to prepare visible light photocatalysts on a large scale.

Research highlights▶ WxTi1−xO2 solid solutions (x = 0.000, 0.005, 0.010, 0.015, and 0.020) microspheres were synthesized with an aerosol-assisted flow synthesis method. ▶ These solid solutions exhibited higher photocatalytic activities on degradation of RhB than pure TiO2.