RareEarthOxide-TreatedFullereneandTitaniaCompositeswithEnhancedPhotocatalyticActivityfortheDegradationofMethyleneBlue.pdfVIP

2011 Chinese Journal of Catalysis Vol. 32 No. 9 Article ID: 0253-9837(2011)09-1457-08 DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(10)60258-6 Article: 1457–1464 Rare Earth Oxide-Treated Fullerene and Titania Composites with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Methylene Blue * MENG Zada, ZHU Lei, CHOI Jong-geun, PARK Chong-yeon, OH Won-chun Department of Advanced Materials Science Engineering, Hanseo University, Seosan, Chungnam 356-706, Korea Abstract: Rare earth oxide-treated fullerene and titania composites (Y-fullerene/TiO ) were prepared by the sol-gel method. The products 2 had interesting surface compositions. X-ray diffraction patterns of the composites showed that the Y-fullerene/TiO2 composites contained a single and clear anatase phase. The surface properties were observed by scanning electron microscopy, which gave a characterization of the texture on the Y-fullerene/TiO composites and showed a homogenous distribution of titanium particles. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectra 2 showed the presence of C and Ti with strong Y peaks. The composite obtained was also characterized with transmission electron microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic results showed that the Y-fullerene/TiO2 composites had excellent activity for the degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. This was attributed to both the effects on the photocatalysis of the su