Characterization and photocatalytic activity of lanthanon-doped nano-TiO2

Nano-TiO2 powder and TiO2 optical films with photocatalytic activity were prepared by sol-gel progress. Eu3+, Nd3+, Tb3+, Dy3+ were adoped to enhance the photocatalytic activity. The modality of the films was observed with AFM morphology; Three-dimensional picture of TiO2 by AFM (RMS=2.83nm) showed its fine quality. Samples annealed at different temperatures were analyzed with UV-VIS spectroscopy. The results indicated that the absorption of the sample annealed at 500 degrees C is strong because it is composed of anatase and rutile sized about 10 similar to 100nm (ref. XRD). XRD was used to analyze the structure of TiO2. The results showed that rutile phase is precipitated as well as anatase of TiO2,and anatase is about 66wt%,and the average dimension is 26nm; Alumina-supported vanadium oxide catalyst (V2O5/Al2O3) was prepared conventionally by impregnating alumina with an aqueous solution of ammonium metavanadate(NH4VO3). Cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone are key reactants for the production of adipic acid and caprolactam. The photo-oxidation of cyclohexane on titanium dioxide and over V2O5/Al2O3 was investigated in neat cyclohexane to synthesize cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol. The reaction also features the photocatalyfic activity of Nano-TiO2 and V2O5/Al2O3. The results indicate that titanium dioxide doped with Eu or Tb exhibits the high selectivity to partial oxidation compounds. The characteristic of the reaction over V2O5/Al2O3 is a reasonable (K/A) ketone/alcohol ratio.