Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped triphasic TiO2 nanoparticles

TiO2 nanoparticles of the single anatase phase, binary anatase-brookite phases, and ternary anatase-brookite-rutile phases were synthesized using an HNO3-catalyzed hydrothermal process. The types and amounts of phases varied depending on the hydrothermal synthesis conditions. The results revealed that N dissolves in different amounts and chemical states, depending on the phases present and their proportions in the nano particles. Brookite and rutile nanoparticles oriented through one direction were found to be crystallized by the surface transformation from anatase. Photocatalytic activity tests, evaluated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light illumination, revealed that the N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles containing a ternary-phase mixture had the best photocatalytic activity. The MB degradation of the visible light-active nanoparticles was three times better than that of a commercially available well-known TiO2 powder, P25 under UV illumination. The enhanced photoactivity was attributed to the following: i) a high surface area, ii) suppression of the recombination of electron-hole pairs with ternary-phase mixture crystallized in heterojunctions, iii) larger anatase phase content, and iv) narrower band gap and facilitation of charge separation by dissolved N atoms.