Preparation, characterization and applications of novel carbon and nitrogen codoped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles from annealing TiN under CO atmosphere
Graphical abstract: Carbon and nitrogen codoped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles were firstly fabricated by calcining TiN powder under CO atmosphere at different temperatures between 400 and 600 °C, both the improved photocatalytic activity for degradation of methylene blue and enhanced photovoltaic performance for dye sensitized solar cells were demonstrated. - Highlights: • CN-codoped TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles were prepared by calcining TiN under CO atmosphere. • More visible light response was confirmed by UV–vis DRS and photocatalytic results. • Enhanced conversion efficiency was observed for the DSSCs from CN-TiO{sub 2} photoanode. • CN-codoping played an important role to improve the photocatalytic performance. - Abstract: Carbon and nitrogen codoped titania (CN-TiO{sub 2}) nanoparticles were fabricated by calcining titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles under carbon monoxide (CO) atmosphere at four different temperatures in a range of 400–600 °C. The as-prepared samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Enhanced light absorption in both the UV and visible light region was observed for the resulted CN-TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles in ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS). Improved photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of methylene blue by the CN-TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles was demonstrated under UV and visible light, respectively. The highest degradation rate was achieved for CN-TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles (13%) compared to N-TiO{sub 2} (10%) and the commercial P25 (5%) under visible light illumination for 40 min. Furthermore, the improved photocatalytic activity of CN-TiO{sub 2} was also confirmed by the degradation of colorless resorcinol under UV–vis light irradiation. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using P25, N-TiO{sub 2} and CN-TiO{sub 2} photoanodes, respectively. The highest conversion efficiency of 3.31% was achieved by the DSSCs based on the CN-TiO{sub 2} photoanodes in comparison with the commercial P25 (1.61%) and N-TiO{sub 2} (2.44%) photoanodes. This work demonstrates that thermal treatment of TiN nanoparticles under CO atmosphere has shown to be a rapid, direct and clean approach to synthesize photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic and photovoltaic performance.
- OSTI ID:
- 22285158
- Journal Information:
- Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 48, Issue 10; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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