Synthesis of crystal-phase and color tunable mixed anion co-doped titanium oxides and their controllable photocatalytic activity

• Published in: International journal of minerals, metallurgy and materials Vol. 30; no. 10; pp. 2036 - 2043
• Main Authors: Cao, Jingdi, Hhasegawa, Takuya, Asakura, Yusuke, Yamakata, Akira, Sun, Peng, Cao, Wenbin, Yin, Shu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing University of Science and Technology Beijing 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ammonia; Anatase; Anions; Brookite; Catalytic activity; Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Color; Composites; Controllability; Corrosion and Coatings; Glass; Heat treatment; Heavy metals; Hydrothermal crystal growth; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Mixed anions; Natural Materials; Photocatalysis; Raw materials; Surfaces and Interfaces; Synthesis; Thin Films; Titanium dioxide; Titanium oxides; Tribology; pigment; cosmetic application; colorful titania; mixed anion compounds; photocatalytic activity; toxic elements free
• ISSN: 1674-4799; 1869-103X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12613-022-2573-6

B and N mixed anions co-doped titania with various crystal phases such as anatase, brookite, and rutile were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal synthesis followed by heat treatment in an ammonia gas atmosphere at 550–650°C (denoted as BN-Ana_ x , BN-Bro_ x , and BN-Rut_ x, x is the treatment temperature). The colors of as-prepared BN-Ana, BN-Bro, and BN-Rut are red, yellow-green, and cyan-green, respectively. The color changing mechanism of titania was related to their various band gap structure and the existence of B-N bonding. The nitridation temperature exhibits effective color changing compared to that of nitridation time. The different phases of the mixed anion co-doped titania possess different photocatalytic deNO x activity. The BN-Ana and BN-Rut show poor photocatalytic deNO x activity, while the BN-Bro shows excellent photocatalytic deNO x activity, better than that of standard titania photocatalyst Degussa P25. The colorful titania with low-photocatalytic activity is heavy metal elements free, indicating their possible applications as nontoxic color pigments or novel cosmetic raw materials.