Abstract:Neodymium doping titania was loaded to silicon dioxide to prepare Nd/TiO₂-SiO₂ by sol-gel method and Nd/TiO₂-SiO₂ was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). Photocatalytic activities of Nd/TiO₂-SiO₂ with different neodymium contents were evaluated by degradation of methyl orange. The light absorption of Nd/TiO₂-SiO₂ increased with increasing doping neodymium in a visible light range of 388−619 nm, and Nd doping was in favor of decreasing the recombination of photo-generated electrons with holes. Nd and SiO₂ improved the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂. The optimal molar fraction of Nd to Ti was 0.1%, and the optimum calcination temperature was 600 °C. The highest degradation rate of methyl orange was 82.9% after irradiation for 1 h.

Key words: titania; silicon dioxide; neodymium doping; photocatalysis; sol-gel method