The preparations of a senes of terbium doped nanocrystalline T1O2 materials are described. The materials have been characterized by XRD and TEM. It shows that Tb3+ dopant not only significantly inhibits the phase transition of nanocrystalline TiC>2, but also remarkably increases its thermal stability. The investigation of degradation of rhodamin B under irradiation of UV light demonstrates that the photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline TiO2 is greatly improved by Tb3+ dopant with Tb3+ (x = 0.02) doped samples exhibiting the best activity.

Key words: TITANIUM DIOXIDE, NANOPHASE MATERIALS, BUTANEDIOL, THERMAL STABILITY, RHODAMINE, LIGHT DEGRADATION, TERBIUM, DOPE, CATALYTIC ACTIVITY