Enhancement of Ce and Cr Codopant Solubility and Chemical Homogeneity in TiO2 Nanoparticles through Sol Gel versus Pechini Syntheses

TL;DR

This study compares sol gel and Pechini synthesis methods for Ce/Cr codoped TiO2 nanoparticles, showing Pechini enhances solubility and homogeneity but affects crystallinity and photocatalytic activity.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of integrated solubility for Ce in TiO2 and demonstrates Pechini synthesis as superior for achieving chemical homogeneity.

Findings

Pechini method yields less ordered mixed-phase TiO2 with higher Ce solubility.

Codoping reduces crystallinity and surface area, impacting photocatalytic performance.

Pechini synthesis results in more chemically homogeneous TiO2 nanoparticles.

Abstract

Ce/Cr codoped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using sol gel and Pechini methods with heat treatment at 400 C for 4 h. A conventional sol gel process produced well-crystallized anatase, while Pechini synthesis yielded less ordered mixed-phase anatase and rutile; this suggests that the latter method enhances Ce solubility and increases chemical homogeneity but destabilizes the TiO2 lattice. Greater structural disruption from the decomposition of the Pechini precursor formed more open agglomerated morphologies, while the lower levels of structural disruption from pyrolysis of the dried sol gel precursor resulted in denser agglomerates of lower surface areas. Codoping and associated destabilization of the lattice reduced the binding energies in both powders. Cr4+ formation in sol gel powders and Cr6+ formation in Pechini powders suggest that these valence changes derive from synergistic electron exchange from intervalence and/or multivalence charge transfer. Since Ce is too large to allow either substitutional or interstitial solid solubility, the concept of integrated solubility is introduced, in which the Ti site and an adjacent interstice are occupied by the large Ce ion. The photocatalytic performance data show that codoping was detrimental owing to the effects of reduced crystallinity from lattice destabilization and surface area. Two regimes of mechanistic behavior are seen, which are attributed to the unsaturated solid solutions at lower codopant levels and supersaturated solid solutions at higher levels. The present work demonstrates that the Pechini method offers a processing technique that is superior to sol gel because the former facilitates solid solubility and consequent chemical homogeneity.