VISIBLE-LIGHT-ACTIVE NITROGEN DOPED TIO۲ NANOPARTICLES PREPARED BY SOL-GEL ACID CATALYZED REACTION

Yellow-colored nitrogen doped TiO۲ photocatalyst and a pure TiO۲ powder were synthesized via sol-gel method using TiCl۴ and urea as raw materials. However, the synthesis procedure for nitrogen doped TiO۲ was catalyzed by acid that dialed with controlled precipitation and slow nucleation. According to XRD analysis, the nitrogen doped TiO۲ consisted of anatase phase of titania which was a significant achievement regarding its possible photocatalytic applications. The band gaps of nitrogen doped TiO۲ and pure TiO۲ were estimated from UV-Vis spectroscopy data to be ۲.۸ and ۳.۳ ev, respectively. Photocatalytic properties of the nitrogen doped TiO۲ nanocatalyst and pure TiO۲ were compared for degradation of crystal violet dye in visible light irradiation. In comparison to pure TiO۲, nitrogen doped TiO۲ showed superior photocatalytic efficiency towards the dye.

Keywords:

TiO۲ , sol-gel , band gap , nitrogen , nanoparticles