Fabrication and characterization of Ag- and Cu-doped TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) by in situ anodization method as an efficient photocatalyst

• Published in: Journal of solid state electrochemistry Vol. 26; no. 10; pp. 2247 - 2260
• Main Authors: Zakir, O., Ait Karra, A., Idouhli, R., Elyaagoubi, M., Khadiri, M., Dikici, Burak, Aityoub, A., Abouelfida, A., Outzourhit, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Anatase; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Copper; Doping; Electrochemistry; Energy Storage; Methylene blue; Nanotubes; Original Paper; Phase transitions; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Photoelectrons; Physical Chemistry; Raman spectroscopy; Scanning electron microscopy; Silver; Spectroscopic analysis; Spectrum analysis; Titanium dioxide; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X-ray diffraction; X-ray spectroscopy; Photodegradation; Photocatalysis; Nanotubes; XPS; TiO; Electrochemical anodization; Methylene blue
• ISSN: 1432-8488; 1433-0768
• DOI: 10.1007/s10008-022-05237-4

In this study, copper (Cu) and silver (Ag)–doped TiO
2
nanotubes were fabricated by in situ anodization method to improve their photocatalytic performance. The resulting nanotubes (NTs) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Mott-Schottky analysis. The SEM study shows the formation of NT structure and reveals that the doping does not affect the surface morphology. The XPS analysis proves that a mixture of Ag
0
/Ag
+
and Cu
+
/Cu
2+
exists simultaneously on the surface of the Ag- and Cu-doped TiO
2
NTs, respectively. XRD and Raman spectroscopy analyses show that the doping shifted the anatase and rutile phase transformation and stabilized the anatase phase. The Mott-Schottky measurements demonstrate that the potential of the flat band shifted to negative values by doping. The prepared NTs were evaluated in methylene blue (MB) photodegradation under UV. The results reveal that the doped TiO
2
NTs were more efficient than pure TiO
2
NTs in the degradation of MB. The Cu-doped TiO
2
NTs exhibited excellent degradation efficiency of about 92.61% with a kinetic rat 0.0089 min
−1
. Furthermore, the reusability studies showed that the photocatalysts are globally stable and efficient for the degradation of MB.