N-loaded TiO2 for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under visible light irradiation

• Main Authors: Natkritta Boonprakob, Natda Wetchakun, Sukon Phanichphant, Jun Chen, Burapat Inceesungvorn
• Format: Book Series
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Engineering
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84872711586&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/52577
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

Nitrogen-loaded TiO2(N-loaded TiO2), a visible-light driven catalyst, was successfully synthesized by the modified sol-gel method. Physical characterizations of the as-prepared catalysts have been performed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy (DR UV-vis), Raman spectroscopy and BET specific surface area in order to obtain structure-activity relationship. Results from Raman spectroscopy clearly suggested that N atoms were incorporated into the TiO2crystal lattice as evidenced by the vibrational peak of Ti-N in TiO2-xNx. DR UV-vis results also suggested that the nitrogen dopant might be responsible for narrowing the TiO2band gap energy, thus resulting in a shift towards the visible light region. Photocatalytic activity of N-loaded TiO2evaluated through the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) indicated that all N-loaded photocatalysts exhibited significantly higher activities than the unloaded TiO2and Degussa P25 TiO2. According to the results from DR UV-vis, XRD and BET studies, the enhanced photo activity observed from N-loaded samples might be due to a decrease in TiO2band gap energy and/or changes in chemical and physical properties of the materials upon loading with nitrogen. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.