Preparation of N, Ce Co-doped Nano TiO2 Coatings and Investigation of their Photocatalytic Activity

Pure and N, Ce co-doped TiO2 thin films were prepared on glass-ceramic substrates by using sol-gel dip-coating technology. After, samples calcined in air at 550 °C for 2 h. Then samples characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ultra violet visible light diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS). Finally, the photocatalytic activity of the films were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methyl orange. Results indicate that anatase phase is the dominant phase in N, Ce co-doped TiO2 samples, and the doping can decrease the size of TiO2 crystallite. Beside the light absorption of N, Ce co-doped TiO2 increases with increasing cerium content and cerium doping causes absorption spectra of N, Ce co doped TiO2 to shift the visible region. It was found that N, Ce co-doped TiO2 thin films showed higher photocatalytic activity and then the pure TiO2 thin films. The results of the experiments show that doping with Ce content of Ce/Ti: 1% and N content of urea/tetra n-butyl ortho titanate: 0.25 can improve photocatalytic properties of N-Ce-TiO2.