Transition metal doped titania: Physical properties and photocatalytic behaviour

Titanium dioxide is one of the most efficient photocatalysts for the detoxi fication of organically charged waste water. However, this material suffers from the drawback of poor absorption properties because of a band gap of 3 .2 eV. Thus, wavelengths shorter than 400 nm are needed for light induced g eneration of electron-hole pairs. That is why doping with transition metal ions is interesting for inducing a bathochromic shift of the band gap. Howe ver, this doping changes other physical properties such as lifetime of elec tron-hole pairs and adsorption characteristics.