Boron-doped TiO2 was prepared by the sol-gel method and by grinding TiO2 powder with a boron compounds (boric acid and boric acid
triethyl ester followed by calcinations at temperature range 200 to 600ºC. Three types of pristine TiO2: ST-01 (Ishihara Sangyo Ltd., Japan;
300 m2
/g), P25 (Degussa, Germany, 50 m2
/g), A11 (Police S.A., Poland 12 m2
/g) were used in grinding procedure. The photocatalytic activity
of obtained powders in visible light was estimated by measuring the decomposition rate of phenol (0.21 mmol/dm3
) in an aqueous solution. The
photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron emission spectroscopy (XPS), UV-VIS absorption and BET
surface area measurements. The best photoactivity under visible light was observed for B-TiO2 modified with 2 wt% of boron prepared by
grinding ST-01 with dopant followed by calcinations at 400ºC. This photocatalyst contains 16.9 at.% of carbon and 6.6 at.% of boron in surface
layer and its surface area is 192 m2
/g