Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ni doped TiO2 nanowire–nanoparticle hetero–structured films prepared by hydrothermal and sol–gel methods

TiO 2 nanowire‐nanoparticle hetero‐structured films were prepared via a sol–gel method and coated on glass substrates by dipping method for photocatalytic activity. In this study 0, 1, 3, and 5 mol% of Ni doped were studied. One‐dimensional TiO 2 nanowires (NWs) were prepared by hydrothermal treatment with TiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) which are commercially available. XRD, FESEM, DRS, and XPS were used to characterize the prepared nanowire‐nanoparticle hetero‐structures films. 3%Ni doped TiO 2 hetero‐structured film (TNi3) had the highest photocatalytic activity on the degradation of methylene blue (MB). TNi3 films provided about 4.3 times of degradation rate compared to undoped TiO 2 (T). It revealed that TNi3 film resulted in shifting the absorption wavelength towards narrowing the energy band gap and small crystallite size. Therefore, the TNi3 film exhibited a photocatalytic activity on the degradation of MB under visible light irradiation greater than undoped film.