Abstract
A simple approach was explored to prepare N-doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (N-TiO2 NPs) from titanium chloride (TiCl4) and ammonia (NH3) via sol–gel method. The effects of important process parameters such as calcination temperatures, NH3/TiCl4 molar ratio (R N) on crystallite size, structure, phase transformation, and photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were thoroughly investigated. The as-prepared samples were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated upon the degradation of methylene blue aqueous solution under visible-light irradiation. The results demonstrated that both calcination temperatures and NH3/TiCl4 molar ratios had significant impacts on the formation of crystallite nanostructures, physicochemical, as well as catalytic properties of the obtained TiO2. Under the studied conditions, calcination temperature of 600°C and NH3/TiCl4 molar ratio of 4.2 produced N-TiO2 with the best crystallinity and photocatalytic activity. The high visible light activity of the N-TiO2 nanomaterials was ascribed to the interstitial nitrogen atoms within TiO2 lattice units. These findings could provide a practical pathway capable of large-scale production of a visible light-active N-TiO2 photocatalyst.
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Author Loc T. Nguyen was funded by Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Research Initiation Grant (SERD-2014-1FB).
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Than, L.D., Luong, N.S., Ngo, V.D. et al. Highly Visible Light Activity of Nitrogen Doped TiO2 Prepared by Sol–Gel Approach. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 158–166 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4894-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4894-6