Study of the efficiency of visible-light photocatalytic degradation of basic blue adsorbed on pure and doped mesoporous titania films

Transparent mesoporous titania films have been deposited on glass slides by a sol-gel procedure in the presence of Triton X-100 reverse micelles in cy clohexane. Benzothiazolium, 2-[[4-[ethyl(2-hydroxyethyl)amino] phenyl]azo]- 5-methoxy-3-methyl(T-4)-methoxysulfate (Basic Blue 41), has been adsorbed o n these films from aqueous solutions, and the photodegradation of the dye b y visible-light illumination has been monitored by absorption spectrophotom etry. Film nanostructure has been optimized for maximum photodegradation ef ficiency by controlling the original reverse micellar composition, the ripe ning of the particles, and the thickness of the films. Films doped with sil ver ions, incorporated through the reverse-micellar route, are more efficie nt photocatalysts than pure titanium films and become even more efficient w hen they are treated with UV radiation. Films doped with ruthenium ions are less efficient for photocatalysis but when they are treated with UV radiat ion, they also become more efficient photocatalysts than pure titania films .