In the present research work copper (Cu) and Boron (B) codoped TiO2 and undoped nano materials were synthesized by solgel method for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye. Prepared catalysts were characterized by various instrumental techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analyzer, show high percentage of small particles of size 6.8 nm and high surface area 135.6 m2/g, respectively. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy analysis (DRS) for codoped TiO2 shows a reduced band gap energy of 2.73 eV. The characterization results show the photocatalytic activity of the codoped catalyst for the degradation of methyl orange dye within 105 minutes at the optimum reaction parameters such as dopant concentration of Cu at 0.25 wt% and B at 1 wt%, pH=3, catalyst dosage 0.075 g/L and dye concentration 10 mg/L under visible light irradiation. The mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic performance of the catalyst was proposed by the results obtained from the PL spectra.
Keywords: Codoped TiO
2; Visible Light; Methyl Orange; Photocatalysis;