Improved visible light photocatalytic activity of fluorine and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 with tunable nanoparticle size
Abstract
Fluorine and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 (F-N-TiO2) photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activities were facilely synthesized by a simple one-step hydrothermal method using Ti(SO4)2 as an economical precursor, and hydrofluoric acid and ammonia as F and N source, respectively. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of produced nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) methods. The synergistic effects of F and N doping were systematically examined by changing the molar ratio of F/N. Compared with the un-doped F or N mono-doped TiO2, the co-doped samples exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic performance due to their synergistic effects under visible light. It was shown that F dopant promoted the crystal growth and crystallinity of samples, while N dopant hindered it to some extent, which resulted in the tunable particle size of obtained F-N-TiO2 materials. The effects of F and N dopants on the enhanced photocatalytic activity of modified TiO2 materials were also discussed. The degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) was achieved at 97.31% after 5 h reaction under visible light over the optimized sample of FN3.5T. The materials also showed excellent stability according to the recycling tests of the photodegradation of MB.
- Publication:
-
Applied Surface Science
- Pub Date:
- March 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.01.218
- Bibcode:
- 2015ApSS..332..573C
- Keywords:
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- Titanium dioxide;
- Photocatalysis;
- Co-dopants;
- Synergistic effect;
- Methylene blue