Fe-doped and ZnO-pillared titanates as visible-light-driven photocatalysts

Fe-doped cesium titanate was obtained by a solid state reaction with a mixture of Cs2CO3, TiO2, and Fe2O3. ZnO-pillared doped titanate nanocomposite was successfully fabricated by exfoliating doped titanate and restacking its nanosheets with ZnO nanoparticles. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption measurement, thermogravimetric analysis and UV–vis spectroscopy. It was revealed that the present nanocomposite exhibits greatly increased specific surface area with mesoporous texture and that there exists an electronic coupling between the host sheets and the guest nanoparticles in the pillared system. The results of degradation of methylene blue under visible light radiation suggest that doping iron ions improves the material spectral response region and that hybridizing with ZnO nanopillars can suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs.

Graphical abstractDoping to extend its absorption response region and fabricating a heterojunction structure to suppress the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, the materials exhibited good visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (109 K)Download as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Doping titanate with Fe by a solid state reaction shifts the absorption edge to the visible region. ► Fabricating a heterojunction structure by an exfoliation-restacking route to suppress the recombination of the photogenerated carriers. ► ZnO-pillared Fe-doped titanate nanocomposite processes a mesoporous texture. ► ZnO-pillared titanates exhibit an excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity.