Synthesis of Cerium Ion Doped Ti-SBA-15 Catalysts and Their Photocatalytic Activity.

Ti-SBA-15 catalysts doped with cerium ion were synthesized using conventional hydrothermal method and they were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DRS, BET and PL. We also examined the activity of these materials on the photocatalytic decomposition of orange II. Ti-SBA-15 catalysts doped with cerium ions maintained the mesoporous structure regardless of the doping amount of cerium ion. 5 mole% Ce/Ti-SBA-15 catalysts showed the highest photocatalytic activity on the decomposition of orange II, however, the catalysts doped with less than 3 mole% Ce/Ti-SBA-15 showed lower activity compared to pure Ti-SBA-15 catalyst. The PL peaks appeared at about 410 nm at all catalysts and the excitonic PL signal was proportional to the photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of orange II.