Aerosol-assisted flow synthesis of W_xTi_1-xO₂solid solution spheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this paper, WxTi1-xO2solid solutions (x = 0.000, 0.005, 0.010, 0.015, and 0.020) microspheres were synthesized with an aerosol-assisted flow synthesis method. The resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen sorption, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared catalysts were measured by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm). All the solid solutions exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than pure TiO2and the W0.015Ti0.985O2solid solution possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The degradation constant of RhB on W0.015Ti0.985O2solid solution catalyst was about 15 times of that of the pure TiO2and 25 times of that of Degussa P25, respectively. This study provides an effective method to prepare visible light photocatalysts on a large scale.