PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND INVESTIGATION OF PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF TIO2/SIO2/CO NANOCOMPOSITE USING ADDITIVES

Shahram Moradi1, Parviz Aberomand Azar2, Bahar Khodadadi , Saied Abedini Khorami1, Mohammad Hadi Givianrad2 1Department of Chemistry, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran. 2Department of Chemistry, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. (Received 11 Feb. 2013; Final version received 14 Jun. 2013) Abstract Titanium dioxide has been widely used for photo-catalytic and self-cleaning activities. In this study, TiO2/SiO2/Co nanocomposite was prepared by sol-gel method in the presence of Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP), and Hydroxyl Propyl Cellulose (HPC) as additives, and characterized by IR spectra, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Analytical X-Ray (EDAX), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) methods. The influence of metal doping and additives effect onto TiO2/SiO2 on the structure and photo-catalytic behavior was evaluated. Moreover, Photo-catalytic activity was investigated in different conditions. The results revealed that the photo-catalytic activity of TiO2/SiO2 doped with appropriate content of Cobalt in the presence of additives exceeded, and TiO2/SiO2/Co nanocomposite with HPC had the best photo-catalytic activity.