Dielectric Properties and Spectral Characteristics of Photocatalytic Constant of TiO(2) Nanoparticles Doped with Cobalt

Dielectric properties and spectral dependence of the photocatalytic constant of Co doped P25 Degussa powder were studied. Doping of TiO(2) matrix with cobalt was achieved by precipitation method using of Tris(diethylditiocarbamate)Co(III) precursor (CoDtc–Co[(C(2)H(5))(2)NCS(2)](3)). Five different Co contents with nominal Co/Ti atomic ratios of 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 and 0.10 were chosen. Along with TiO(2):Co samples, a few samples of nanopowders prepared by Sol-Gel method were also studied. As it follows from XPS and NMR studies, there is a concentration limit (TiO(2):0.1Co) where cobalt atoms can be uniformly distributed across the TiO(2) matrix before metallic clusters start to form. It was also shown that CoTiO(3) phases are formed during annealing at high temperatures. From the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant it can be concluded that the relaxation processes still take place even at temperatures below 400 °C and that oxygen defect Ti–O octahedron reorientation take place at higher temperatures. The spectral dependency of the photocatalytic constant reveals the presence of some electronic states inside the energy gap of TiO(2) for all nanopowdered samples.