PREPARATION ELECTRICAL AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF TRYMETHYLGLYSINE DOPED POLYPYRROLE / CHLOROPRENE RUBBER NANOCOMPOSITE
anatase phase titanium dioxide; niobium oxide; doped titanium dioxide; impregnation method; photocatalytic
Abstract
Abstract
This paper describes the synthesis procedure and photocatalytic activity of an active Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) doped anatase phase Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst. The catalysts were prepared by impregnating ammonium niobate oxalate (V) hydrate ethanolic solutions (1-5%) with oxalic-acid-precipitated TiO2. XRD analysis of all synthesized TiO2 and Nb2O5 – doped TiO2 construct an anatase phase, however with reduced intensity. Evidently, a linear expansion on cell parameters and extreme reduction in crystallite size was observed as the Nb2O5 loading percentage increases. All prepared catalysts exhibit similar irregular to nearly spherical shape morphology with the size accumulated in the range of 10 – 70 nm using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. The effect of doping Nb2O5 became more prominent when it’s assembled different shapes of hysteresis loops as displayed in N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. Upon the addition of Nb2O5, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area showed incredible enhancement while pore size diameter as determined using Barrett, Joyner, and Halenda (BJH) method shifted to smaller pore size. The photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized Nb2O5 – doped TiO2 was evaluated and results exhibited an appreciable improvement in comparison to the undoped TiO2. On the whole, 3% Nb2O5 doped TiO2 offered the highest activity with an optimum of 13.34 mg methyl orange are degraded per gram of UV illuminated photocatalyst. Kinetically, the rate of Methyl Orange (MO) photocatalytic degradation by Nb2O5 doped TiO2 followed first order.
Keywords: anatase phase titanium dioxide; niobium oxide; doped titanium dioxide; impregnation method; photocatalytic

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