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A Comparison Study of Rhodamine B Photodegradation over Nitrogen‐Doped Lamellar Niobic Acid and Titanic Acid under Visible‐Light Irradiation
Author(s) -
Li Xiukai,
Kikugawa Naoki,
Ye Jinhua
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.200801770
Subject(s) - photodegradation , rhodamine b , photocatalysis , visible spectrum , nitrogen , intercalation (chemistry) , lamellar structure , materials science , urea , nuclear chemistry , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , photochemistry , diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , engineering , composite material
Slip between the sheets! The intercalation properties of lamellar solid acids have a profound impact on nitrogen doping as well as on the resultant visible‐light photocatalysis, and the effects depend strongly on the protonic acidities of the samples (see figure).A solid‐state reaction method with urea as a nitrogen precursor was used to prepare nitrogen‐doped lamellar niobic and titanic solid acids (i.e., HNb 3 O 8 and H 2 Ti 4 O 9 ) with different acidities for visible‐light photocatalysis. The photocatalytic activities of the nitrogen‐doped solid acids were evaluated for rhodamine B (RhB) degradation and the results were compared with those obtained over the corresponding nitrogen‐doped potassium salts. Techniques such as XRD, BET, SEM, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV‐visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were adopted to explore the nature of the materials as well as the characteristics of the doped nitrogen species. It was found that the intercalation of the urea precursor helped to stabilize the layered structures of both lamellar solid acids and enabled easier nitrogen doping. The effects of urea intercalation were more significant for the more acidic HNb 3 O 8 sample than for the less acidic H 2 Ti 4 O 9 . Compared with the nitrogen‐doped KNb 3 O 8 and K 2 Ti 4 O 9 samples, the nitrogen‐doped HNb 3 O 8 and H 2 Ti 4 O 9 solid acids absorb more visible light and exhibit a superior activity for RhB photodegradation under visible‐light irradiation. The nitrogen‐doped HNb 3 O 8 sample performed the best among all the samples. The results of the current study suggest that the protonic acidity of the lamellar solid‐acid sample is a key factor that influences nitrogen doping and the resultant visible‐light photocatalysis.