Physicochemical and photocatalytic characterizations of TiO2/Pt nanocomposites

Spherical and uniform Pt nanoparticles with sizes of 2–6 nm have been formed on TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowires by microwave irradiation and exhibited very high photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methyl orange. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that the TiO2/Pt composites contained mostly Pt(0), with traces of Pt(II) and Pt(IV). These results indicate that nanoparticles of platinum were formed on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowire. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that TiO2/Pt composites only displayed the characteristic diffraction peaks of a TiO2 anatase structure. TiO2/Pt composites exhibited very high photocatalytic activities in the decomposition of methyl orange.