Premium
Formation of Oxynitride as the Photocatalytic Enhancing Site in Nitrogen‐Doped Titania Nanocatalysts: Comparison to a Commercial Nanopowder
Author(s) -
Chen X.,
Lou Y.B.,
Samia A. C. S.,
Burda C.,
Gole J. L.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200400184
Subject(s) - materials science , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , photocatalysis , raman spectroscopy , nanomaterial based catalyst , chemical engineering , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , nanomaterials , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , catalysis , optics , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , engineering
A nitrogen‐doped TiO 2 nanocolloid has been successfully prepared and its properties compared with the commercially available TiO 2 nanomaterial, Degussa P25. Several characterization techniques, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering, and UV‐visible reflectance spectra, are combined in order to determine the crystal phase and grain size, shape, degree of nitrogen incorporation, and nature of the resultant oxynitride chemical bonding on the surface and in the bulk. The high relative photocatalytic activity of the nitrogen doped‐TiO 2 nanocolloid is evaluated through a study of the decomposition of methylene blue under visible light excitation. The ease and degree of substitutional‐insertional nitrogen doping is held accountable for the significant increase in photocatalytic activity in the porous nanocolloid versus the nitrided commercial nanopowder. It is suggested that the nitrogen incorporation produces an NO bonding region as evidenced by the resulting XPS spectrum.