Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange on Platinum and Palladium Co-doped TiO2 Nanoparticles

Pt and Pd co-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using modified sol-gel processes and characterized by BET surface area, SEM, TEM, XRD, EDX, FT-IR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results showed that the Pt/Pd-TiO2 nanoparticles possess high surface area and small particles size compared with individual Pt or Pd doped TiO2. The significantly high photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to the simultaneous effects of doped Pt and Pd by cascadal electron transfer from TiO2 to Pd to Pt and reach surface excitation state. And the optimum molar ratio of Pt/Pd at 1.5 can effectively reduce the electron–hole recombination rate.