Nano structured bismuth and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 as an efficient light harvesting photocatalyst under natural sunlight for the production of H2 by H2O splitting

The bismuth (Bi) and nitrogen (N) co-doped TiO2 photo catalysts prepared by sol-gel method were subjected to water splitting under natural solar light irradiation. Doping of nitrogen in TiO2 lattice was occurred only in the presence of Bi. X-ray photo electronic spectra (XPS) revealed the presence of Bi and N on the surface and the Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectra emphasized that doping of N occurred in the form of both NOx- and -NH species. These species were also characterized by EPR and Raman spectroscopy in the TiO2 lattice. A high rate of H2O splitting activity over 2 wt%Bi doped N-TiO2 photocatalyst was manifested by high ratio of NOx- species in the TiO2 lattice. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.