Influence of calcination parameters on the synthesis of N-doped TiO2 by the polymeric precursors method

Effect of Calcination Conditions on the Properties and Photoactivity of TiO2 Modified with Biuret

A simple wet impregnation-calcination method was used to obtain a series of novel non-metal doped TiO2 photocatalysts. Biuret was applied as C and N source, while raw titanium dioxide derived from sulfate technology process was used as TiO2 and S source. The influence of the modification with biuret and the effect of the atmosphere (air or argon) and temperature (500–800 °C) of calcination on the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts towards ketoprofen decomposition under simulated solar light was investigated. Moreover, selected photocatalysts were applied for ketoprofen photodecomposition under visible and UV irradiation. Crucial features affecting the photocatalytic activity were the anatase to rutile phase ratio, anatase crystallites size and non-metals content. The obtained photocatalysts revealed improved activity in the photocatalytic ketoprofen decomposition compared to the crude TiO2. The best photoactivity under all irradiation types exhibited the photocatalyst calcined in the air atmosphere at 600 °C, composed of 96.4% of anatase with 23 nm crystallites, and containing 0.11 wt% of C, 0.05 wt% of N and 0.77 wt% of S.

Influence of terbium (III) ions on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 and CeO2 for the degradation of methylene blue in industrial effluents

This study reports the preparation of TiO₂ and CeO₂ doped with different quantities of terbium and discusses the influence of this dopant on the photocatalytic activity of the semiconductors, with respect to the degradation of methylene blue, under ultraviolet and solar radiations. The oxides obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared vibrational spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and dispersive energy spectroscopy. The results indicate that the presence of the dopant in TiO₂ favored the formation of the anatase crystalline phase to the detriment of rutile, increased the band gap energy, and decreased the size of the nanoparticles. Doping CeO₂ with Tb resulted in a fluorite-type crystalline structure, reduced band gap, and smaller particle size. The photocatalytic activity decreases as the concentration of terbium increases regardless of the radiation source and nature of the oxide. Furthermore, a better performance was observed for all semiconductors excited by solar radiation in comparison to ultraviolet light. The samples of pure TiO₂ and TiO₂ doped with 0.5 and 1% terbium showed total removal of the dye after less than 120 min of reaction, while the samples of pure CeO₂ and CeO₂ doped with 0.5% terbium showed approximately 80% and 57% of dye removal after 120 min, suggesting that these materials can be promising for the treatment of industrial effluents.

C-,N- and S-Doped TiO2 Photocatalysts: A Review

This article presents an overview of the reports on the doping of TiO2 with carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, including single, co-, and tri-doping. A comparison of the properties of the photocatalysts synthesized from various precursors of TiO2 and C, N, or S dopants is summarized. Selected methods of synthesis of the non-metal doped TiO2 are also described. Furthermore, the influence of the preparation conditions on the doping mode (interstitial or substitutional) with reference to various types of the modified TiO2 is summarized. The mechanisms of photocatalysis for the different modes of the non-metal doping are also discussed. Moreover, selected applications of the non-metal doped TiO2 photocatalysts are shown, including the removal of organic compounds from water/wastewater, air purification, production of hydrogen, lithium storage, inactivation of bacteria, or carbon dioxide reduction.

Removal of the antimicrobial activity from fortified effluents with fluoroquinolones by photocatalytic processes: a comparative study of differently synthesized TiO2-N

This study presents a comparison of three methods for TiO₂-N synthesis that were applied in the photocatalytic oxidation of the fluoroquinolones (FQs) ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and lomefloxacin in aqueous solution. The TiO₂-N bandgap is small enough to allow the use of solar energy in the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) reactions. The TiO₂ doped by a sol-gel method with titanium butoxide (TiO₂-N-BUT) and titanium isopropoxide (TiO₂-N-PROP) as the precursor were effective as the TiO₂ (P25) impregnation with urea (TiO₂-N-P25) to degrade the FQs. The FQ degradation was higher by 74, 65, and 91%, respectively for TiO₂-N-BUT, TiO₂-N-PROP, and TiO₂-N (load 50 mg L^-1, 20 min of reaction under 28 W UV-A_Solar). The TiO₂-P25 with urea showed the best performance in FQ degradation. The reaction intermediates might present modifications in their acceptor groups by PCO and, because of that the antimicrobial activity dropped as the reaction time increased. Reactions with TiO₂-N-P25 (100 mg L^-1) and TiO₂-N-BUT (100 mg L^-1) achieved ≥ 80% of antimicrobial activity removal from the mixed FQ solution (C_{ciprofloxacin} = 100 μg L^-1; C_ofloxacin = 100 μg L^-1; C_lomefloxacin = 100 μg L^-1) after 40 min of reaction, for both for Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.

Nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-doped TiO2) for visible light photocatalysis

Energy level diagrams for undoped and N-doped TiO₂ for visible light induced photocatalytic application.

Photoelectrochemical and theoretical investigation of the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 : N

In N-doping on TiO₂ nanomaterial occurs a big decrease of band-gap (1 eV); however, its photocatalysis is low. We clarify such fact from effective mass, i.e., the electron–hole recombination is more than creation of electron–hole pair.