A titanium dioxide powder co-doped with boron and zirconium was prepared by
mechanical ball milling. Photocatalytic performance of the powder was evaluated by
degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under UV illumination. XRD patterns were
refined by Rietveld analysis method to obtain accurate lattice parameters and position of
the atoms in the crystal structure of TiO2. XRD analysis indicated that the B and/or Zr
doped TiO2 powders composed of anatase and did not exhibit any additional phase.
Rietveld analysis suggested that dopant B and Zr elements were successfully weaved into
crystal structure and distorted the lattice of TiO2. The highest distortion was obtained by
co-doping. SEM investigations confirmed that mechanical ball milling technique led to a
decrease in particle size of TiO2 powder. XPS analysis revealed that dopant B and Zr
atoms did not appear in any form of compound including Ti and O elements. Results of
photocatalytic activity test suggested that boron and zirconium co-doped TiO2 particles
exhibited a better visible light response and photocatalytic activity than that of mono
element doped TiO2 (i.e. B-TiO2 and Zr-TiO2) and undoped TiO2 particles. A 20%
improvement in photocatalytic activity of reference TiO2 powder (powder ball milled
without dopant addition) was achieved by B and Zr co-doping. The enhanced
photocatalytic activity is attributed to synergistic effects of B-Zr co-doping the lattice of
TiO2 as well as particle size reduction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12615401/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| Creators | Tokmakci, Tolga |
| Contributors | Ozturk, Abdullah |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | Access forbidden for 1 year |
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