New Synthetic Approach, Mesoporous properties And Photocatalytic Activity Of Titania adapted Chromium-niobate Nanocatalysts

¹Department of Chemistry, West Bengal State University, Barasat, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata 700126, India 

²Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL-32611, USA

³Department of Chemistry, Nanomaterials Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, India

⁴Department of Chemistry, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2013, Current Issue, 4 (2), pp 121-130

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2012.7382

Publication Date (Web): Dec 09, 2012

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: tghorai@chem.ufl.edu

Abstract

Mesoporous titania adapted chromium-niobate nanocatalysts Cr_xNb_xTi_1-2xO_2-x/2 (x = 0.01-0.2) were synthesized by a new synthetic approach, using N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine (edteH4) precursors and their photocatalytic activities were investigated. TiO₂ nanomaterials have continued to be highly active in photocatalytic applications because these are useful to break down the organic molecules in water for endorsing the diffusion of reactants and products. Cr_xNb_xTi_1-2xO_2-x/2 (x = 0.01)(CNT1) nanoparticles with the smaller particle sizes 12±1 nm and have mesoporous characteristics (SBET = 162 m² g⁻¹). The energy band gap of CNT1 was found 1.85 eV obtained from optical emission spectrum. The XRD peaks revealed a mixture of anatase and rutile phases in the synthesized powders. EPR spectroscopy showed the characteristic features of Nb⁵⁺ ions, whose existence was confirmed by XPS. The CNT1 powders display good (2.5 times greater) photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) as opposed to pure anatase TiO2 and other compositions of Cr_xNb_xTi_1-2xO_2-x/2.

Keywords

Sol-gel synthesis, mesoporous, titanium dioxide, optical properties, nano-photocatalysts.