Sains Malaysiana 50(1)(2021): 135-149

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2021-5001-14

Preparation and Characterization of Copper, Iron, and Nickel Doped Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysts for Decolorization of Methylene Blue

(Penyediaan dan Pencirian Fotomangkin daripada Tembaga, Besi dan Nikel Titanium Dioksida untuk Penyahwarnaan Metilena Biru)

JAWED QADERI^1,2, CHE ROZID MAMAT¹ & AISHAH ABDUL JALIL^3,4

¹Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

²Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Kabul University, Jamal Mina, Kabul, Afghanistan

³School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

⁴Centre of Hydrogen Energy, Institute of Future Energy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia

Diserahkan: 7 April 2020/Diterima: 23 Jun 2020

ABSTRACT

The visible-light response is a necessary condition for titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalyst to function as a visible light active photocatalyst. This condition can be solved by investigation of the bandgaps and the optimization of doping levels of multivalency metal-doped TiO₂. In this study, pure and Cu, Fe, and Ni-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts were prepared by the sol‐gel method. The photocatalysts were characterized using XRD, FTIR, FESEM, EDX, N₂ physisorption, and UV‐Vis spectrophotometry techniques. The XRD patterns of all pure TiO₂ and Cu/TiO₂, Fe/TiO₂, and Ni/TiO₂ samples showed the dominant structure of the anatase TiO₂ phase. The presence of functional groups at the interface of TiO₂ particles was showed by FTIR. The FESEM analysis showed that the particle size of the prepared samples was uniform with spherical morphology. EDX results showed that TiO₂ has successfully incorporated Cu, Fe, and Ni metals onto its surface. The BET analysis showed that the specific surface area of the doped samples increased with the amount of doping. The optical properties of all samples were carried out using UV‑DRS measurements and their obtained bandgap energies were in the range of 3.22 - 3.42 eV. The pure TiO₂ displayed more than 98% and 97% decolorization rates for MB solution at the end of irradiation time of 5 h under UV and visible light, respectively. Among the doped samples, 3 mol% Ni/TiO₂ and Cu/TiO₂ demonstrated the highest photocatalytic activity (97.65%) under UV light and 6 mol% Ni/TiO₂ under visible light for MB (96.86%) decolorization.

Keywords: Cu/TiO₂; Fe/TiO₂; Ni/TiO₂; photocatalyst; sol-gel; titanium dioxide (TiO₂)

ABSTRAK

Tindak balas cahaya nampak adalah syarat penting fotomangkin titanium dioksida (TiO₂) berfungsi sebagai fotomangkin cahaya tampak aktif. Keadaan ini boleh diselesaikan dengan penyelidikan jurang jalur dan pengoptimuman kandungan dopan logam pelbagai valensi dalam TiO₂. Dalam kajian ini, fotomangkin TiO₂ tulen dan yang didopkan dengan logam peralihan pada kala keempat iaitu, Cu, Fe, dan Ni, telah disediakan melalui kaedah sol‐gel. Fotomangkin dicirikan menggunakan teknik XRD, FTIR, FESEM, EDX, N₂ dan spektrofotometri UV‐Vis. Spektrum XRD bagi semua TiO₂ tulen dan Cu/TiO₂, Fe/TiO₂ dan Ni/TiO₂ menunjukkan struktur dominan fasa anatase TiO₂. Kehadiran ikatan kimia yang kuat antara permukaan zarah TiO₂ telah dibuktikan oleh FTIR. Analisis FESEM mendedahkan bahawa saiz zarah sampel yang disediakan seragam dengan morfologi sfera. Keputusan EDX menunjukkan TiO₂ telah berjaya didopkan dengan logam Cu, Fe dan Ni di atas permukaannya. Analisis BET menunjukkan kawasan permukaan khusus sampel dopan meningkat dengan jumlah bahan dopan. Sifat optik kesemua sampel telah diuji menggunakan kaedah pengukuran UV‐DRS dan tenaga jalur yang diperoleh berada dalam julat 3.22 - 3.42 eV. Fotomangkin TiO₂ tulen menunjukkan lebih daripada 98% dan 97% kadar penguraian foto untuk MB pada penghujung masa penyinaran selama 5 jam di bawah sinaran UV dan cahaya nampak. Antara semua sampel TiO₂ yang berdop, 3 mol% Ni/TiO₂ dan Cu/TiO₂ menunjukkan aktiviti fotomangkin tertinggi (97.65%) di bawah cahaya UV dan 6 mol% Ni/TiO₂ di bawah cahaya tampak untuk MB (96.86%).

Kata kunci: Cu/TiO₂; Fe/TiO₂; Ni/TiO₂; fotomangkin; sol-gel; titanium dioksida (TiO₂)

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*Pengarang untuk surat-menyurat; email: cherozid@tm.my