Cu and I co-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic application in methylene blue dye degradation

Abstract In this work, copper (Cu) and iodine (I) co-doped TiO 2 nanoparticles were synthesised by the solution-combustion technique using titanium dioxide powder as a precursor. For the doping of Cu and I, copper sulphate and iodic acid were used as precursors, respectively. The synthesised nanoparticles were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy to identify their morphology, x-ray diffraction to determine their crystal structure and Diffuse Reflectance Spectra to determine the band gap energy. These nanoparticles were of the anatase phase, and the crystalline size of the doped nanoparticles was 14.62 nm. The experimental findings presented in this study demonstrate encouraging outcomes for enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO 2 nanoparticles with simultaneous Cu and I doping, resulting in an appreciable increase in the photodegradation of methylene blue. The photodegradation of methylene blue in a UV photochemical reactor using a quartz tube was approximately 80% complete in 50 min. and followed pseudo-first order kinetics.