Study on photocatalytic activity of boron doped TiO2 catalyst (TiO2-xBx)

Samples of pure TiO2 and TiO2-xBx were obtained with Ti(OC4H9)4 by sol-gel methods. Compared with the pure TiO2, the samples of TiO2-xBx exhibited higher photocatalytic activity under both ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. The reasons were discussed, based on the characterization with XRD, Raman, XPS, UV-Vis and PL spectra. The lattice O is substituted by B, and the orbital of B2p is mixed with O2p orbitals, which is responsible for the band gap narrowing. The raise of the photocatalytic activity is chiefly because B doping enhanced the absorption of visible light, and promoted the separation of photogenerated carriers.