Photochemical deposition of platinum on titanium dioxide–tungsten trioxide nanocomposites: an efficient photocatalyst under visible light irradiation

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2016-02, Vol.27 (2), p.1062-1069
• Main Authors: Momeni, Mohamad Mohsen, Ghayeb, Yousef
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Degradation; Deposition; Materials Science; Nanotubes; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photocatalysis; Platinum; Titanium; Titanium dioxide; X-rays
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-015-3852-z

Highly ordered titanium dioxide–tungsten trioxide nanotubular composites (TiO 2 –WO 3 ) were fabricated on titanium sheets by electrochemical anodizing. Platinum nanoparticles have been successfully deposited onto TiO 2 –WO 3 nanotubes by UV light photoreduction method. In this work, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer methods were adopted to characterize the samples. The degradation of methylene blue (MB) was used as a model reaction to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the obtained samples. After irradiated under visible light for 60 min, the degradation rate of MB solution on unmodified TiO 2 –WO 3 and Pt/TiO 2 –WO 3 reached 77 and 93 %, respectively. Under the same condition, no obvious photodegradation of MB was found for bare TiO 2 (T). Kinetic research showed that photodegradation process followed the first-order reaction; the apparent reaction rate constant of Pt/TiO 2 –WO 3 -1 was 4.56 × 10 −2  min −1 which is approximately 1.75 times higher than that on the unmodified TiO 2 –WO 3 . This work provides an insight into designing and synthesizing new TiO 2 –WO 3 nanotubes based hybrid materials for effective visible light-activated photocatalysis.