Hybridizing TiO with nitrogen-doped carbon: a new route to a highly visible light-active photocatalyst

TiO2 hybridized with nitrogen-doped carbon (N-doped C/TiO2) was prepared as a photocatalyst with improved visible-light catalytic activity for the first time. It was found that N-doped carbon was formed by etching and partial decomposition of asformed graphitic carbon nitride on the surface of TiO2 under calcination at 500 degrees C in open air, which avoided direct doping of nitrogen into TiO2 structure. N-doped carbon on the surface of TiO2 led to an enhanced light absorption in the range of 400 to 550 nm. The resulting N-doped C/TiO2 exhibited about 2 times higher activity than the graphitic carbon nitride/TiO2 prepared by direct carbonization in argon atmosphere. Compared with the commercial TiO2 (Degussa, P25), N-doped C/TiO2 showed a higher reaction rate in the degradation of various pollutants such as rhodamine B, phenol and methyl orange (MO) under simulated solar light irradiation.