Visible Light Activity of Nitrogen-Doped TiO2 by Sol-Gel Method Using Various Nitrogen Sources

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Institute of Nano Science and Nano Technology, University of Kashan, I.R. Iran

2 Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Kashan, Kashan, I.R. Iran

Abstract

In order to improve photocatalytic activities of the pure anatase TiO2 under UV and visible light irradiations, a novel and efficient N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst was prepared by sol-gel method. N-doped titania is prepared using the various nitrogen sources such as: triethylamine, N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylethane-1,2-diamine, ethyldiamine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, propanolamine, and propylenediamine and then the effect of these source on properties of products was investigated. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) techniques. Results indicate that the shifting of absorption edge to visible region compare to the pure TiO2, reducing average size of the TiO2 crystallites, enhancing of lattice distortion of Ti, effective separation of photo-induced electron and hole pair, and improvement of pollutant decomposition under UV and visible light irradiations are due to doping of N in titania. The photocatalytic activities of N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were evaluated using the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under the irradiation of UV and visible light and it confirmed that the photocatalytic activity of N-TiO2 is better than the pure TiO2. By comparing the photocatalytic activities of the N-TiO2 with different nitrogen sources, triethylamine with 2 molar ratio was chosen as the optimum.

Keywords

Full Text

INTRODUCTION
One of the most promising photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants is TiO2 that has attracted significant attention. This material is biologically and chemically inert, mechanically robust, nontoxic, cheap, environmentally friendly and therefore a perfect candidate for wide scale applications with high efficiency [1-4]. Furthermore, TiO2 nanoparticles can be excited by photons to produce electron-hole pairs for photocatalytic activation, if the photons energy provides enough energy for the TiO2 band gap (3.0 for rutile and 3.2 eV for anatase). The anatase TiO2 has higher photocatalytic activity than rutile TiO2 [4-6]. They require near ultraviolet irradiation (λIn this work, nitrogen-doped nanocrystalline TiO2 was successfully synthesized through the sol-gel method. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles were greatly enhanced by decreasing the N/TiO2 band gap. Organic compounds were used as nitrogen sources such as triethylamine, N,N,N’,N’–tetramethylethane–1,2-diamine, ethyldiamine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, propanolamine and propylenediamine. At the same time, the catalytic activity of the N/TiO2 catalyst is compared with the pure anatase TiO2. The effects of various nitrogen sources on the photocatalytic properties of products were investigated. Then, the photocatalytic activity of the N/TiO2 catalyst was tested for the removal of methyl orange dye under UV and visible light irradiation. Through the comparison of the photocatalytic activities of the N/TiO2 with different nitrogen sources, the best source was optimized.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The tetraisopropyl orthotitanate (TTIP), triethylamine, N,N,N’,N’–tetramethylethane-1,2-diamine, ethyldiamine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, propanolamine, propylenediamine, acetic acid, ethanol and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were purchased from Merck and used without any further purification. Deionized water was prepared by a pure water system (Smart-2-Pure, TKA Co., Germany). Methyl orange (MO, M.W. = 695.58 g mol−1) dye was provided by Alvan Co., Iran.

Synthesis of N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles
Part 1. The pure anatase phase of TiO2 and the N-doped TiO2 were prepared by sol–gel method. The products were synthesized using one of the following compounds as N source: triethylamine, N,N,N’,N’–tetramethylethane,1,2-diamine, ethyldiamine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, propanolamine or propylenediamine. Also, TTIP was used as TiO2 source and acetic acid was applied as catalyst. The preparation process was as follow: TTIP, ethanol and acetic acid with mole ration of 1:2:2 were mixed together and the mixed solution was stirred for 3 h. The pH of the mixture was adjusted to about 3.0 using acetic acid to prevent the formation of TiO2 in this step. After that, the nitrogen source, deionized water and PVP with molar ratio of 2:10:1 were mixed together and added slowly to the first mixed solution. The resultant solution was kept under continuous stirring for a further 2 h for perform hydrolysis reaction, then dispersed under irradiation with a high intensity ultrasonic of 20 kHz in a sonication cell for 15 min, outcome is the formation of a transparent solution of TiO2 sol. The prepared light-yellow solution was kept for 24 h in the dark for nucleation process. After this period, the gel was dried at 100 °C and subsequently the catalyst was crushed into fine powder and calcined in a muffle furnace at 500 °C for 2.0 h. The nanosized N-doped TiO2 powders were obtained after adequate rubbing.
Part 2. As in Part 1, but here for the nitrogen source, various certain amount of triethylamine (the molar ratio of N:TiO2 is 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5) were used.

Characterization of photocatalysts
X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were recorded by a Philips-X’PertPro, X-ray diffractometer using Ni-filtered Cu Kα radiation at scan range of 10<2θ

Photocatalytic decomposition of methyl orange
Photocatalytic activity of un-doped and N/TiO2 nanoparticles was evaluated by the decomposition of MO solution in water under UV and visible light irradiation. In each experiment, the recyclable photocatalyst (0.1 g) was added into 100 mL of methyl orange aqueous solution (pH =2-3) with 11 mg/L concentration. The decomposition of MO was performed in a glass vessel with a diameter of 10 cm. A Xenon lamp (500 W) was hanged perpendicularly to the glass vessel as light source. A quartz filter was placed between lamp and vessel that allow to pass the wavelength

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fig. 1 shows the FT-IR spectra of pure TiO2 and N/TiO2 powders obtained from various nitrogen sources. The FT-IR spectra of the N/TiO2 catalyst show a strong peak at 3000–3700 cm−1 and narrow band at 1628 cm−1 that assign to the O-H stretching and H-O-H bending vibrations of adsorbed water molecules. The peaks observed in 1384, 1163 and 1019 cm-1 are typical of N–O stretching and O–N–O bending vibrations, respectively [43, 44]. Additionally, the peak at 514 cm-1 for N/TiO2 resulted from Ti–O–Ti bending vibrations, being red-shifted compared with the peak for TiO2 at 539 cm-1 and the peak at 653–550 cm-1 is ascribed to the Ti–O stretching vibration [36, 45].
XRD patterns for pure TiO2 and N/TiO2 nanoparticles obtained from various nitrogen sources, are shown in Fig. 2. In all the XRD patterns, TiO2 anatase diffraction lines could be seen and no other crystal phase could be detected. Characteristic peaks of anatase (2θ = 25.2, 37.76, 48.02, 54.05, 55.03, 62.80, 68.85, 70.19, and 75.07) can be associated with (101), (004), (200), (105), (211), (204), (116), (220) and (215) planes respectively, were observed. This indicates that the produced doped TiO2 and undoped TiO2 are in anatase phase (JCPDS no. 36-1451). It could also be seen from the XRD patterns that N/TiO2 has the broader peaks compared to pure TiO2. This means smaller crystallite size, according to Scherrer equation, and thus increase the photocatalytic activity of N/TiO2 [5]. Generally, crystallite growth in TiO2 is considerably affected by the dopant [46].
The photocatalytic degradation of MO under UV and visible lights were measured for pure and N/TiO2 samples. Fig. 3 clearly shows photodegradation of MO by N/TiO2 versus time under UV and visible irradiation. According to Fig. 3, the results show that the type of used nitrogen source is effective in photocatalytic activity of synthesized N/TiO2 in the degradation of MO dye. All N/TiO2 samples show better catalytic activity compared to pure TiO2, except one that was used from 1,2-phenylenediamine as nitrogen source (sample 2). The degradation percent for N/TiO2 samples (except sample 2) against 240 minutes visible irradiation or 30 minutes UV light irradiation were 57 to 76 and 72 to 87 percent. The photocatalytic activity of N doped TiO2 samples was best when used triethylamine as source of nitrogen. In the next stage, the results of different ratio of triethylamine were studied.
Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show the FT-IR spectra and XRD patterns of pure TiO2 and N/TiO2 powders from different mole ratio of trimethylamine, respectively. The average crystallite size of pure TiO2 and N/TiO2 were calculated using the Scherrer equation. Pure TiO2 had a particle size of 16.3 nm; doped TiO2, about 13.2 nm. N/TiO2 powders showed smaller size than pure TiO2 prepared at the same calcinations temperature. In general, crystallite growth in TiO2 is considerably affected by the dopant. This smaller crystallite size enhanced the photocatalytic activity of N/TiO2.
The surface morphology of the N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles have been investigated by SEM, respectively, shown in Fig. 6. It is observed that the N/TiO2:2.0 is composed of large quantity of relatively uniform particles with diameter from 20 to 30 nm, which indicates sample could have good dispersion in solution. As it can be seen in Fig. 6, the larger particles are obtained by the aggregation of smaller particles.
The EDS data of N/TiO2:2.0 sample (Fig. 7) shows a peak around 0.4 and 0.5 keV and another intense peak appears at 4.5 and 4.9 keV for Ti [47]. The peaks due to nitrogen and oxygen are clearly distinct at 0.3 and 0.6 keV, respectively. These results confirm that Ti, O, N exist in the catalyst structure.
Fig. 8(a) shows the DRS spectra of the pure TiO2 and N/TiO2 samples. The pure TiO2 shows absorption only in the UV region. The optical absorption of the N/TiO2 samples was extended to the visible region. It is noted that the band gap was expanded from 380 to 480 nm upon N doping. Noticeable shifts of the absorbance shoulder from a wavelength below 400 nm to the visible light region were observed for the N/TiO2. The main absorption edges of the N/TiO2 change significantly compared to that of the un-doped sample. It is likely that nitrogen doping creates a new N 2p state slightly above the valence band top consists of O 2p state, and this pushes up the valence band top and leads to visible light response as a consequence [6].
In addition, the bandgap of the titania was determined from the Eq. (1) [48]

where A is a constant, hν is the photon energy, Eg is the optical energy gap of the material and γ is characteristic of the optical transition process, which is equal to 2.0 for an indirect allowed optical transition of an amorphous semiconductor. The bandgap of N/TiO2 has changed from 3.38 eV (pure TiO2) to 3.26 eV for N/TiO2:2.0 sample is shown in Fig. 8(b). The first bandgap reflects the effect of N-doping on the main band edges of the oxide. The second gap, which is narrower than the original value, suggests that nitrogen doping contributed to the red shift of the bandgap [48]. Accordingly, it can be presumed that the N/TiO2 sample may exhibit high photocatalytic activity under visible irradiation.

The photocatalytic degradation of MO under UV and visible lights were measured for pure and N doped TiO2 samples (triethylamine as source of nitrogen). The results in Fig. 9 clearly show that, under the irradiation of UV and visible, the photocatalytic performance of anatase TiO2 is greatly improved with the doping of N. The photocatalytic activity of N doped TiO2 sample that triethylamine was source of nitrogen shows comparable activity to that of pure TiO2 and the samples under UV light with increase the nitrogen concentration in the degradation of MO dye was more, resulting in a degradation of N/TiO2:2.0 sample was 87% and selected as the optimum sample. Also, the samples under visible light with increase the nitrogen concentration in the degradation of MO dye was more, finally in a degradation of N/TiO2:2.0 sample was 76.4% and was selected as the optimum sample.
The higher photocatalytic activity of N/TiO2 than pure TiO2 under UV and visible irradiation may be due to the substitution of nitrogen for oxygen atoms in the crystal structure of TiO2 that improves the visible light sensitivity by introducing a mid-gap (N 2p) level, which formed slightly above the top of the (O 2p) valence band [49].

CONCLUSION
In summary, in this work N/titania nano-photocatalyst with a spherical shape was prepared using sources of nitrogen such as N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylethane-1,2-diamine, ethyldiamine, 1,2-phenylenediamine, propanolamine, propylenediamine (the molar ratio of 2:1). After that, using triethylamine (with difference molar ratios) as the optimize nitrogen source, by the sol–gel method. The doping mechanism was explained by XRD, FT-IR, EDS, SEM, and UV–visible absorption analyses. The photocatalytic performance of pure TiO2 was greatly improved by the N-doping. The nitrogen doping had predominant effects on the improvement of the photocatalytic activity: On the other hand, it could limit the band gap of titania and extends its absorption to the visible light region, furthermore, it could increase the separation efficiency of the photoinduced electron and hole. The prepared N/TiO2:2.0 shows a great potential as a catalyst for photocatalytic applications.


CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this manuscript.

References

1. Huang T, Mao S, Yu J, Wen Z, Lu G, Chen J. Effects of N and F doping on structure and photocatalytic properties of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles. RSC Advances. 2013;3(37):16657-16664.
2. Cong Y, Zhang J, Chen F, Anpo M. Synthesis and characterization of nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanophotocatalyst with high visible light activity. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2007;111(19):6976-6982.
3. Fujishima A, Rao TN, Tryk DA. Titanium dioxide photocatalysis. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews. 2000;1(1):1-21.
4. Powell MJ, Dunnill CW, Parkin IP. N-doped TiO2 visible light photocatalyst films via a sol–gel route using TMEDA as the nitrogen source. J Photochem Photobiol A: Chem. 2014;281:27-34.
5. Wang H, Yang X, Xiong W, Zhang Z. Photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes to azo compounds over N-doped TiO2: relationship between catalysts and chemical reactivity. Res Chem Intermed.41(6):3981-3997.
6. He P, Tao J, Huang X, Xue J. Preparation and photocatalytic antibacterial property of nitrogen doped TiO2 nanoparticles. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol. 2013;68(2):213-218.
7. Asahi R, Morikawa T, Ohwaki T, Aoki K, Taga Y. Visible-light photocatalysis in nitrogen-doped titanium oxides. Science. 2001;293(5528):269-271.
8. Sathish M, Viswanathan B, Viswanath R, Gopinath CS. Synthesis, characterization, electronic structure, and photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanocatalyst. Chem Mater. 2005;17(25):6349-6353.
9. Burda C, Lou Y, Chen X, Samia AC, Stout J, Gole JL. Enhanced nitrogen doping in TiO2 nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 2003;3(8):1049-1051.
10. Sakthivel S, Kisch H. Daylight photocatalysis by carbon‐modified titanium dioxide. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2003;42(40):4908-4911.
11. Irie H, Watanabe Y, Hashimoto K. Carbon-doped anatase TiO2 powders as a visible-light sensitive photocatalyst. Chem Lett. 2003;32(8):772-773.
12. In S, Orlov A, Berg R, García F, Pedrosa-Jimenez S, Tikhov MS, et al. Effective visible light-activated B-doped and B, N-codoped TiO2 photocatalysts. J Am Chem Soc. 2007;129(45):13790-13791.
13. Umebayashi T, Yamaki T, Itoh H, Asai K. Band gap narrowing of titanium dioxide by sulfur doping. Appl Phys Lett. 2002;81(3):454-456.
14. Yu JC, Zhang L, Zheng Z, Zhao J. Synthesis and characterization of phosphated mesoporous titanium dioxide with high photocatalytic activity. Chem Mater. 2003;15(11):2280-2286.
15. Shi Q, Yang D, Jiang Z, Li J. Visible-light photocatalytic regeneration of NADH using P-doped TiO2 nanoparticles. J Mol Catal B: Enzym. 2006;43(1):44-48.
16. Yamaki T, Sumita T, Yamamoto S. Formation of TiO2− xF x compounds in fluorine-implanted TiO2. J Mater Sci Lett. 2002;21(1):33-35.
17. Luo H, Takata T, Lee Y, Zhao J, Domen K, Yan Y. Photocatalytic activity enhancing for titanium dioxide by co-doping with bromine and chlorine. Chem Mater. 2004;16(5):846-849.
18. Wang Z, Cai W, Hong X, Zhao X, Xu F, Cai C. Photocatalytic degradation of phenol in aqueous nitrogen-doped TiO2 suspensions with various light sources. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. 2005;57(3):223-231.
19. Li H, Hao Y, Lu H, Liang L, Wang Y, Qiu J, et al. A systematic study on visible-light N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst obtained from ethylenediamine by sol–gel method. Appl Surf Sci. 2015;344:112-118.
20. Nakano Y, Morikawa T, Ohwaki T, Taga Y. Deep-level optical spectroscopy investigation of N-doped TiO2 films. Appl Phys Lett. 2005;86(13).
21. Diwald O, Thompson TL, Goralski EG, Walck SD, Yates JT. The effect of nitrogen ion implantation on the photoactivity of TiO2 rutile single crystals. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2004;108(1):52-57.
22. Yin S, Yamaki H, Komatsu M, Zhang Q, Wang J, Tang Q, et al. Preparation of nitrogen-doped titania with high visible light induced photocatalytic activity by mechanochemical reaction of titania and hexamethylenetetramine. J Mater Chem. 2003;13(12):2996-3001.
23. Maeda M, Watanabe T. Visible light photocatalysis of nitrogen-doped titanium oxide films prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. J Electrochem Soc. 2006;153(3):C186-C189.
24. Chen C, Bai H, Chang S-m, Chang C, Den W. Preparation of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst by atmospheric pressure plasma process for VOCs decomposition under UV and visible light sources. J Nanopart Res. 2007;9(3):365-375.
25. Sakthivel S, Janczarek M, Kisch H. Visible light activity and photoelectrochemical properties of nitrogen-doped TiO2. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2004;108(50):19384-19387.
26. Gole JL, Stout JD, Burda C, Lou Y, Chen X. Highly efficient formation of visible light tunable TiO2-x N x photocatalysts and their transformation at the nanoscale. The journal of physical chemistry B. 2004;108(4):1230-1240.
27. Lin Z, Orlov A, Lambert RM, Payne MC. New insights into the origin of visible light photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped and oxygen-deficient anatase TiO2. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2005;109(44):20948-20952.
28. Morikawa T, Asahi R, Ohwaki T, Aoki K, Taga Y. Band-gap narrowing of titanium dioxide by nitrogen doping. Jpn J Appl Phys. 2001;40(6A):L561.
29. Nakamura R, Tanaka T, Nakato Y. Mechanism for visible light responses in anodic photocurrents at N-doped TiO2 film electrodes. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2004;108(30):10617-10620.
30. Irie H, Watanabe Y, Hashimoto K. Nitrogen-concentration dependence on photocatalytic activity of TiO2-x Nx powders. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2003;107(23):5483-5486.
31. Choi SK, Kim S, Lim SK, Park H. Photocatalytic comparison of TiO2 nanoparticles and electrospun TiO2 nanofibers: effects of mesoporosity and interparticle charge transfer. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2010;114(39):16475-16480.
32. Chen J. G. vonFreymann, SY Choi, V. Kitaev and GA Ozin. Adv Mater. 2006;18:1915-1919.
33. Xiong Z, Zhang LL, Ma J, Zhao X. Photocatalytic degradation of dyes over graphene–gold nanocomposites under visible light irradiation. Chem Commun. 2010;46(33):6099-6101.
34. Zhang W, Zou L, Wang L. Photocatalytic TiO2/adsorbent nanocomposites prepared via wet chemical impregnation for wastewater treatment: a review. Applied Catalysis A: General. 2009;371(1):1-9.
35. Halasi G, Ugrai I, Solymosi F. Photocatalytic decomposition of ethanol on TiO2 modified by N and promoted by metals. J Catal. 2011;281(2):309-317.
36. Sharotri N, Sud D. Ultrasound-assisted synthesis and characterization of visible light responsive nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanomaterials for removal of 2-Chlorophenol. Desalination and Water Treatment. 2015(ahead-of-print):1-13.
37. Li D, Wang J, Li X, Liu H. Effect of ultrasonic frequency on the structure and sonophotocatalytic property of CdS/TiO2 nanocomposite. Mater Sci Semicond Process. 2012;15(2):152-158.
38. Zhang H, Sun L, Sun Q, editors. Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange over Nitrogen-doped TiO2 Prepared by Ultrasonic Method. 2015 International Power, Electronics and Materials Engineering Conference; 2015: Atlantis Press.
39. Yuan J, Chen M, Shi J, Shangguan W. Preparations and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of N-doped TiO2 from urea and titanium tetrachloride. Int J Hydrogen Energy. 2006;31(10):1326-1331.
40. Yamamoto Y, Moribe S, Ikoma T, Akiyama K, Zhang Q, Saito F, et al. Visible light induced paramagnetic sites in nitrogen-doped TiO2 prepared by a mechanochemical method. Mol Phys. 2006;104(10-11):1733-1737.
41. Khataee A, Zarei M, Moradkhannejhad L, Nourie S, Vahid B. Nitrogen doping of commercial TiO2 nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of dye under visible light: Central composite design approach. Advanced Chemistry Letters. 2013;1(1):24-31.
42. Jagadale TC, Takale SP, Sonawane RS, Joshi HM, Patil SI, Kale BB, et al. N-doped TiO2 nanoparticle based visible light photocatalyst by modified peroxide sol− gel method. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2008;112(37):14595-14602.
43. Chen Y-F, Lee C-Y, Yeng M-Y, Chiu H-T. The effect of calcination temperature on the crystallinity of TiO2 nanopowders. J Cryst Growth. 2003;247(3):363-370.
44. Di K, Zhu Y, Yang X, Li C. Electrorheological behavior of urea-doped mesoporous TiO2 suspensions. Colloids Surf Physicochem Eng Aspects. 2006;280(1):71-75.
45. Kralchevska R, Milanova M, Hristov D, Pintar A, Todorovsky D. Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of neodymium, nitrogen and neodymium–nitrogen doped TiO2. Mater Res Bull. 2012;47(9):2165-2177.
46. Hamadanian M, Sarabi AS, Mehra AM, Jabbari V. Efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic degradation of MO on the Cr–nanocrystalline titania–S. Appl Surf Sci. 2011;257(24):10639-10644.
47. Hamadanian M, Reisi-Vanani A, Majedi A. Preparation and characterization of S-doped TiO2 nanoparticles, effect of calcination temperature and evaluation of photocatalytic activity. Mater Chem Phys. 2009;116(2):376-382.
48. Ananpattarachai J, Kajitvichyanukul P. Photocatalytic degradation of p, p′-DDT under UV and visible light using interstitial N-doped TiO2. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B. 2015;50(4):247-260.
49. Selvaraj A, Sivakumar S, Ramasamy A, Balasubramanian V. Photocatalytic degradation of triazine dyes over N-doped TiO2 in solar radiation. Res Chem Intermed. 2013;39(6):2287-2302.
Journal of Nanostructures
Volume 10, Issue 2
April 2020
Pages 307-316

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics