N doping of $TiO_2$ nanocrystal for efficient photodegradation of organic pollutants under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation

Abstract

To decrease the band gap of $TiO_2$ and enhance its photocatalytic performance, in this work, N-doped nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ is synthesized successfully through a simple sol-gel synthesis process with dicyandiamide used as N source. The N-doped $TiO_2$ photocatalysts have been characterized in detail by means of powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope. The photocatalytic activities of N-doped $TiO_2$ to different organic pollutants are significantly different. Using 2 × 10–5 mol/L methylene blue as the target pollutant, N-doped $TiO_2$ can produced approximately 100% conversion within 40 min, the photocatalytic degradation ability of which is equal or superior to commercial or bare $TiO_2$ . The ameliorated photocatalytic activity of N-doped $TiO_2$ photocatalysts is attributed to the appropriate crystallinity, good dispersibility, modified Zeta potential, and increased absorption.