Study of synergistic effect of cobalt and carbon codoped with TiO photocatalyst for visible light induced degradation of phenol.

In this work, we reported synthesis of cobalt and carbon codoped TiO (Co-C-TiO) nanoparticles were prepared using co-precipitation technique. The synthesized catalysts are analyzed by various methods. The powder XRD pattern confirmed that all the samples were polycrystalline of anatase phase and particle size of resultant nanoparticle was reduced correlated with bare TiO sample. FTIR measurements exhibit the identification of functional groups present at the surface of TiO. FESEM micrograph showed that the shape of codoped TiO nanoparticles are approximately sphere. The attained energy gap of Co doped and C codoping of TiO modifies to a level below the energy gap of TiO anatase specifying a high capability to absorb visible light. The recombination rate of photo-induced electrons and holes for Co-C codoped TiO nanoparticles is significantly reduced. The synthesized samples are assessed in degradation of phenol by the illumination of visible light. The results confirmed that photocatalytic activity enhanced due to doping and codoping of Co and C. As a result, Co-C codoped TiO nanoparticles exhibited a higher visible-light photocatalytic activity in compared with Co-TiO and bare TiO with the maximum degradation efficiency of 98, 75 and 15%, respectively. And also, the reusability of the catalyst was proved when 95% degradation could be achieved after consecutive batches. It is predictable that this work will provide new insights to increase the visible light active photocatalysts for environmental problems.