Preparation and Characterization of La Doped TiO_2 Nanoparticles by Sol-hydrothermal Method

TiO2 nanoparticles doped with different content of La were prepared by a solhydrothermal method, and also characterized by surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The effect of La dopant content and calcination temperature on surface photoelectrical and photoluminescence performance was investigated, and their inherent relationships discussed. The results show that an appropriate content of La dopant could effectively enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 calcined at appropriate temperature. Moreover, there are certain relationships among SPS and PL and the activity, i.e., the stronger the SPS and PL signals, the larger the separation rate of photoinduced electron-hole pairs, the higher the photocatalytic activity of La doped TiO2 nanoparticles.