Synthesis and characterization of visible light active S-doped TiO2 nanophotocatalyst

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S-doped and bare mesoporous TiO2 were prepared using titanium tetraisopropoxide and thiocarbamide as raw materials. Prepared materials were characterized by means of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy FT-IR, thermogravimetry-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) pore size distribution analyses, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The band gap of S-doped was estimated from UV-Vis spectroscopy data to be 2.8 eV. The specific surface area of S-doped TiO2 nanoparticles obtained via the BET method, calculated to be 181.3 m2/g and its pore size distribution curve revealed that the average diameter of the pores is 12.3 nm using BJH method. Photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized S-doped mesoporous TiO2 was tested for degradation of Congored azo dye under ultraviolet and visible lights. The results revealed that the S-doped mesoporous TiO2 is the most effective under visible light in comparison with bare one.