Theoretic and Experimental Studies on Titania Nanotube Doped with Ag Metal Ions

The electronic state density and energy bands of Ag-doped anatase TiO2 are studied by WIEN2k software package based on DFT. The calculation results show that the band-gap of anatase titania became bigger after doping with Ag metal ions. The band-gap transfers from 2.04 to 2.5 eV, but a new energy band appears among the forbidden band after the Ag atom substitution. The interband width of Ag-TiO2 is 0.17 eV, which is located at –0.07 eV; more excitation and jump routes are opened for the electrons. The lowest excitation energy can achieve 1.2 eV, which may allow the photons with lower energy （at longer wavelength, such as visible light） to be absorbed. Ag ions are implanted into the titania nanotube sample by MEVVA （Metal Vapor Vacuum Arc） implanter. The photo-electrochemical response and photo-degradation experiment of titania nanotube samples implanted with Ag ions are tested under UV and visible light; the results indicated that the performance of implanted titania naotubes is enhanced both under UV and visible light; it is worth mentioning that the photocurrent density can reach 0.145 mA/cm2 under visible light, which is 181 times higher than those of pure TiNT, and the k value of degradation methyl orange can obtain 0.30 h-1, which is 71 times higher than that of pure TiNT. All the experimental results are consistent well with the theoretic ones.