Single-Step Synthesis of Silver-Doped Titanium Dioxide: Influence of Silver on Structural, Textural, and Photocatalytic Properties

The silver-doped titanium dioxide (Ag–TiO2) photocatalysts with varied silver content ranging from 0.75 at % to 3.5 at % were synthesized by a single-step sol–gel method. The role of silver content on the properties of photocatalyst has been studied. The doping of 0.75 at % silver in TiO2 produced thermally stable TiO2 anatase phase with smallest particle size, uniform particles size and morphology, high surface area and low-energy excitation characteristics. The Ag–TiO2 sample with 0.75 at % silver possesses predominantly finely dispersed silver species (Ag2O and AgO) on the surface. The proportion of surface agglomerated silver metal (Ag0) increases as the silver content in the Ag–TiO2 sample increases. The silver oxide species were observed to be responsible for better physicochemical and catalytic properties. The TiO2 with 0.75 at % silver was found to be an efficient photocatalyst showing enhanced photocatalytic activity for aqueous medium photocatalytic degradation of phthalic acid in the presence o...