Kt. Ranjit et al., Lanthanide oxide-doped titanium dioxide: Effective photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants, J MATER SCI, 34(21), 1999, pp. 5273-5280
A series of lanthanide oxide-doped titanium dioxide photocatalysts Ln(2)O(3
)/TiO2 (Ln(3+) = Eu3+, Pr3+, Yb3+) were prepared. The photocatalysts reveal
a substantially enhanced activity for the degradation of organic pollutant
s, as compared to undoped TiO2. The photodegradation processes of p-nitrobe
nzoic acid, (1), p-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, (2), aniline, (3), salicylic a
cid, (4), and trans-cinnamic acid, (5), with the different photocatalysts w
as examined. The photodegradation of (1)-(5) is significantly faster with L
n(2)O(3)/TiO2 photocatalysts and leads to complete mineralization of the or
ganic compounds. The high activity of the Ln(2)O(3)/TiO2 photocatalysts is
attributed to the enhanced association of the functionalized organic pollut
ants to lanthanide-ion surface sites. (C) 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.