Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Activity of Nb-Doped TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles

Nb-doped TiO2 powders with different concentrations of Nb have been synthesized by a sol-gel method and characterized by a series of technologies including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of Nb-doped TiO2 is evaluated by degradation efficiency of methyl orange in aqueous solution. The results indicate that the photocatalytic activity of Nb-doped TiO2 synthesized with a Nb/Ti molar ratio of 5% is higher than that of TiO2 under the visible light.