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Nitrogen Doping and Carbon Coating Affects Substrate Selectivity of TiO 2 Photocatalytic Organic Pollutant Degradation
Author(s) -
Zhang Yishu,
Kirk Caroline,
Robertson Neil
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.202000492
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , materials science , rhodamine b , titanium dioxide , carbon fibers , doping , chemical engineering , substrate (aquarium) , inorganic chemistry , thin film , photochemistry , catalysis , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , optoelectronics , oceanography , composite number , engineering , geology
A series of carbon‐coated, nitrogen‐doped titanium dioxide photocatalysts was produced and characterized. N‐doped TiO 2 powder samples were prepared using a sol‐gel method and subsequently used for making doped‐TiO 2 thin films on glass substrates. Carbon layers were coated on the films by a thermal decomposition method using catechol. Diffuse reflectance spectra and Mott‐Schottky analyses of the samples proved that nitrogen doping and carbon coating can slightly lower the band gap of TiO 2 , broaden its absorption to visible light and enhance its n‐type character. According to photocatalytic tests against model contaminants, carbon‐coated nitrogen‐doped TiO 2 films have better performance than simple TiO 2 on the degradation of Rhodamine B dye molecules, but are poorly effective for degrading 4‐chlorophenol molecules. Several possible explanations are proposed for this result, supported by scavenging experiments. This reveals the importance of a broad substrate scope when assessing new photocatalytic materials for water treatment, something which is often overlooked in many literature studies.