One-step synthesis of nanocrystalline N-doped TiO2 powders and their photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

• Published in: Research on chemical intermediates Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 1655 - 1664
• Main Authors: Xu, Junna, Liu, Qing, Lin, Shufeng, Cao, Wenbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2013
• Subjects: Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Photocatalysis; Hydrothermal method; N-TiO
• ISSN: 0922-6168; 1568-5675
• DOI: 10.1007/s11164-012-0899-9

Nanocrystalline N-doped TiO 2 powders were successfully prepared by hydrothermal reaction for 2 h at low temperature (120 °C) and at an applied pressure of 3 MPa. The grain size of the powders (calculated by use of Scherrer’s method) ranged from 8.2 to 10.2 nm. The BET specific surface area ranged from 151.0 to 220.0 m 2 /g. A significant shift of the light absorption edge toward the visible light zone was observed in the UV–visible spectra. XPS results showed that nitrogen atoms were incorporated into the TiO 2 lattice. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized N-doped TiO 2 powders was evaluated by measurement of photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The amount of MB degraded increased with increasing illumination intensity.