Preparation and characterization of nano silver-doped mesoporous titania photocatalysts for dye degradation

Photodegradation of Methyl orange is done over TiO2 and nano silver-doped TiO2. Sol-gel method of preparation is used to get improved structural properties as well as photocatalytic activity for environmental pollutant degradation. Glucose takes the role of the reductant for nano silver preparation together with urea as a stabilizer of nanoparticles. Both of these are working as templates and lead to mesoporous TiO2 formation. Ag doping is found to be very effective in increasing the photoactivity of TiO2 in dye degradation. Present work introduces a new route for nano Ag-doped mesoporous TiO2 preparation which eliminates the presence of sodium which is a catalytic poison. Efficient dispersion of the inserted metal within the TiO2 matrix is proved from various characterization techniques such as XRD (X-ray Diffraction), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope), etc. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.