TiO2 nanocrystallites photocatalysts modified with metallic species: Comparison between Cu and Pt doping

Abstract In this work, TiO2 nanoparticles were modified with different Cu and Pt species: metallic nanoparticles and ions. The photocatalysts were prepared via a sol-gel process by peptization with HNO3 at low temperature (i.e. 200 m2 g−1). The absorption property of these materials showed a visible sensitization for all samples even the pure TiO2 compared to the Evonik P25 due to N-doping confirmed by XPS analysis. The photocatalytic activity on the degradation of p-nitrophenol (PNP) showed an increase in the efficiency for nearly all catalysts compared to the pure one. Some mechanisms were proposed to explain these modifications of activity with doping. Under visible light, the photocatalysts were up to 5 times more efficient than P25 (for the best sample composed of Cu metallic nanoparticles).