title: Sonochemical fabrication of novel square-shaped F doped TiO2 nanocrystals with enhanced performance in photocatalytic degradation of phenol.
abstract: A sonochemical method was developed for the fabrication of novel square-shaped TiO(2) nanocrystals doped with different F contents. The prepared samples were characterized by some physicochemical characterizations like X-ray diffraction (XRD), N(2) physical adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). Phenol, as a hazardous chemical in water, was chosen to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation performance of the prepared TiO(2) nanocrystals under UV light irradiation. Results show that under ultrasonic irradiation conditions, F can easily be doped into TiO(2) and the obtained pure and F doped TiO(2) nanocrystals show mesoporous structures which were formed by the role of ultrasound-induced aggregation. Moreover, the doping of optimal content of F (1.3 mol%) gives 5.3 times increase in the phenol degradation rate. The high photocatalytic degradation activity of the doped TiO(2) could be attributed to the factor that F doping increases the surface hydroxyl groups over TiO(2) and effectively reduces the recombination rate of photo-generated electron/hole pairs, then producing more OH radicals to decompose the phenol molecules.
authors.affiliation: School of Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, 86 Hongqi Road, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi, PR China. yuchanglinjx@163.com
authors.forename: Changlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Qizhe
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jianchai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Jimmy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D002384:Catalysis; D005461:Fluorine / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D019800:Phenol / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D010782:Photolysis; D016062:Porosity; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D005461:Fluorine; D019800:Phenol; D014025:Titanium