Zhao et al.
FULL PAPER
ulated light irradiation over nanotube in a fixed bed
flow-type reactor.
mg catalyst mixed with 5 mL quartz sand was loaded
into the reactor and afterwards 10 mL 5% glycerol solu-
tion was added to the reactor dropwise. Argon gas flow
of 20 mL/min was made to pass through the reactor to
collect and transfer gaseous products to the online gas
chromatography equipped with a thermal conductivity
detector.
Experimental
Preparation of photocatalysts
Bi-doped TiO2 nanoparticles with different Bi/Ti
molar ratios were prepared by sol-gel method as de-
scribed in our previous work.[17] Bi-doped TiO2 nano-
tubes were prepared by hydrothermal method. In a
typical synthesis, 0.5 g of the as-prepared Bi-TiO2
Results and Discussion
Characterization of photocatalysts
nanoparticle was dispersed in 10 mol•L- NaOH (aq.)
The Bi/Ti molar ratios determined by ICP-AES and
XPS and the BET surface area of Bi-TiO2 nanotubes are
summarized in Table 1. It can be seen that the element
of Bi is detected in Bi-doped samples, which shows that
Bi element has been successfully doped into the TiO2
structure. For three Bi-doped samples, the Bi/Ti molar
ratios obtained by ICP-AES and XPS are very close,
showing that the Bi element is uniformly distributed in
TiO2 structure. However, the content of Bi determined
by ICP and XPS is obviously lower than the calculated
data, indicating the loss of Bi element. This can result
from the dissolving in the hydrothermal alkali treatment
or acid-washing during the preparation of nanotubes.
The specific surface areas of TiO2 and Bi-TiO2 nano-
tubes are in the range of 270-290 m2/g, which is much
higher than both Degussa P25 and Bi-doped TiO2 nano-
paticles prepared by the conventional sol-gel method.[19]
The specific surface areas of samples are almost not
changed when Bi doping amount is lower than 1.0% (A
slight drop of surface areas over 0.4-BT NTs and
0.7-BT NTs sample may be due to the experiment er-
rors), and then increase obviously with the further in-
crease in Bi content. The increase of surface areas for
2.0-BT NTs and 5.0-BT NTs samples can be due to the
formation of nanobelt structure.
1
and then was transferred into a 100 mL Teflon-lined
autoclave. The autoclave was held at 403 K for 48 h.
After cooling down to the room temperature, the sample
was washed by deionized water, and then treated by 0.5
mol•L-1 HCl (aq.) for 12 h. The suspension was filtered
and washed with deionized water again and dried at 393
K. According to the Bi content of starting materials, the
Bi-doped TiO2 nanotubes were named x-BT NTs (x%=
Bi/Ti molar ratio).
Characterization of photocatalysts
The concentration of Bi was measured by ICP-AES
(Varian, VISTA-MPX). The measurement of the spe-
cific surface area (SBET) was carried out at 77 K on
Quantachrome SI instrument by using the nitrogen ad-
sorption/desorption method. Morphologies of the pre-
pared samples were observed with a Nova Nano430
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and JEOL 2010F
transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffrac-
tion (XRD) data of the samples were recorded on a
D/MAX-2500 automatic powder diffractometer equip-
ped with the Cu Kα radiation (λ=0.15418 nm). Raman
spectra were obtained using an FT-Raman spectrometer
(Bruke, RFS 100/S). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS) measurements were measured on a Thermo
SCIENTIFIC ESCALAB 250 with a resolution of 0.3-
1.0 eV, using nonmonochromatized Al Kα X-ray as the
excitation source. Binding energy was calibrated with
respected to the signal for C 1s of 284.8 eV. UV-visible
diffusive reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS) were re-
corded on a Perkin Elmer-Lambda 35 UV-Vis spec-
trometer.
Table 1 Bi/Ti molar ratios, BET surface areas of Bi-TiO2
nanotubes
Bi/Ti molar ratio x/%
SBET
/
Sample
Obtained
XPS
0
(m2•g-
)
1
Caculated
ICP
0
TiO2 NTs
0
275.7
271.1
273.3
277.6
286.4
288.2
0.4-BT NTs 0.4
0.7-BT NTs 0.7
1.0-BT NTs 1.0
2.0-BT NTs 2.0
5.0-BT NTs 5.0
0.28
0.45
0.76
1.18
2.16
—
Photoactivity measurement
—
Photocatalysis tests were carried out under UV and
solar-simulated light irradiation. The reaction apparatus
were the same with the reference.[18] Two similar appa-
ratuses were used for the photocalytic activity test, each
consisting of light source, cooling system, inner irradia-
tion-type quartz photoreactor and online analysis system.
Two different light sources were used in the present
study: (a) a UV light source (high-pressure Hg lamp,
125 W), (b) a solar simulated light source (Xe lamp, 500
W). The temperature of the irradiated surface of the
catalyst was monitored by a thermocouple directly in-
serted into the catalyst bed. In a typical reaction, an 80
0.80
1.30
2.42
The SEM and TEM images of Bi-doped TiO2 nano-
tubes are shown in Figure 1. The tubular structure is
multi-wall nanotube with an inter-shell spacing of
around 1-1.5 nm. It can be seen from TEM and
HRTEM images that no particle was observed on the
wall of nanotubes, indicating the Bi cations may have
been doped into the crystal structure of TiO2. Figure 1
416
© 2013 SIOC, CAS, Shanghai, & WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chin. J. Chem. 2013, 31, 415—420