Excellent photocatalytic performance of cobalt-doped titanium dioxide nanotubes under ultraviolet light

To improve the photocatalytic property of titanium dioxide, titanous sulfate as the titanium source, cobalt nitrate hexahydrate as the cobalt source, undoped and Co2+-doped titania nanotubes were prepared via coprecipitation method combined with hydrothermal synthesis. Based on the degradation rate of methylene blue, the effects of the codoped rate on photocatalytic activities of the sample were researched. The result showed that doping cobalt could improve the photocatalytic performance of the titanium dioxide nanotubes under the ultraviolet light. The composition and structure of the samples were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and selected area electron diffraction. Conclusions indicated that the low-concentration Co2+ has no influence on the crystal structure of titanium dioxide and no new crystals were formed in the whole process.