Enhanced photocurrent and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in cobalt hydroxide loaded titanium dioxide film

Abstract

We report experimental investigation of the effect of the cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2) decoration on the photocatalytic activity of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) films. We demonstrate that the decoration of Co(OH)2 is able to red-shift the absorption edge of the TiO2 film from UV to the visible light region, enhance the optical absorption, and facilitate the charge separation and transfer. As a result, the Co(OH)2-TiO2 composite film is found to exhibit much larger photocurrent and higher performance in photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange than the pure TiO2 film.