Sol-Gel Synthesis of Yb-Er Co-doped TiO₂-ZnO Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue: Performance and Mechanism

Sol-Gel Synthesis of Yb-Er Co-doped TiO₂-ZnO Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue: Performance and Mechanism | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sol-Gel Synthesis of Yb-Er Co-doped TiO₂-ZnO Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue: Performance and Mechanism Tan Mao, Wei Wang, Peilong Liu, Junyan Zha, Xiran Bu, Rui Song, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8802056/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Water pollution is a pressing global issue, and photocatalysis is a promising approach for degrading organic pollutants in printing and dyeing wastewater. Enhancing solar utilization and clarifying reaction mechanisms are core goals of heterogeneous photocatalysis. TiO₂ is limited by its wide bandgap (UV-only activation) and rapid photogenerated charge recombination. Herein, a Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ co-doped TiO₂-ZnO composite was prepared via sol-gel method. Structural/morphological analyses confirmed enlarged specific surface area, narrowed bandgap and improved light absorption, with optimal calcination at 550°C for 2 h. The TiO₂-5%ZnO/1%Yb-1%Er composite achieved 76.31% methylene blue (MB) degradation under visible light for 6 h (vs. 33.20% for pure TiO₂) and 98.58% degradation under UV light for 2 h (vs. 52.82% for pure TiO₂), outperforming P25. This work verifies that rare-earth co-doping effectively boosts the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ based composites. titanium dioxide Photocatalysis Composite semiconductor Rare earth co-doping Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8802056","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":590862775,"identity":"8ecfcb76-b52a-4707-8b93-779418688372","order_by":0,"name":"Tan 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Enhancing solar utilization and clarifying reaction mechanisms are core goals of heterogeneous photocatalysis. TiO₂ is limited by its wide bandgap (UV-only activation) and rapid photogenerated charge recombination. Herein, a Yb\u0026sup3;⁺/Er\u0026sup3;⁺ co-doped TiO₂-ZnO composite was prepared via sol-gel method. Structural/morphological analyses confirmed enlarged specific surface area, narrowed bandgap and improved light absorption, with optimal calcination at 550\u0026deg;C for 2 h. The TiO₂-5%ZnO/1%Yb-1%Er composite achieved 76.31% methylene blue (MB) degradation under visible light for 6 h (vs. 33.20% for pure TiO₂) and 98.58% degradation under UV light for 2 h (vs. 52.82% for pure TiO₂), outperforming P25. 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