Nitrogen-doped Titanium Dioxide ?N-doped TiO₂? For Visible Light Photocatalysis

Mesoporous nitrogen-doped titania(TON)anatase phase photocatalysts were successfully prepared using sol-gel and solvent evaporation induced self-assembly(SEISA)methods.Dodecylamine(DDA)and diethylenetriamine(DETA)were used as surfactants for endowing mesoporosity,complexing agents,base catalysts for polymerizing titania source(titanium isopropoxide),and sources for nitrogen doping.It was found that the titania source and the amount of DDA and DETA influenced strongly the textural[specific surface area(SBET),pore volume,and pore size],optical[UV-Vis absorbance and band gap energy(Eg)],morpholoical properties,and photocatalytic activity of TON photocatalysts.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study revealed the presence of substitutional and interstitial oxidized nitrogen dopings.All TON photocatalysts showed superiority in degrading methylene blue(MB)dye than the commercially-available Fluka titania anatase phase catalyst under visilbe irradiation between 400 nm and 800 nm.TON photocatalyst with the highest SBET and the smallest Eg exhibited the fastest rate for the photodegradation of MB.