Co-doping of Iron and Cerium in Titanium Dioxide: Observation of a Cooperative Effect

The co-doping of iron and cerium into TiO2 was studied by means of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. when separately doping via the sol-gel method, iron was introduced in the framework of anatase TiO2 whereas cerium was not; interestingly, both iron and cerium were introduced in the framework when co-doping by the sol-gel method. The co-doped TiO2 behaves much more intense surface hydroxyl concentration than the separately-doped and pure TiO2. This observation demonstrates for the first time a cooperative effect in the co-doping of transitional metals in the framework of TiO2.