Research on Solvothermal Synthesis of Phase Composition Controllable Nanocrystalline TiO<sub>2</sub> Powders

Abstract

N-doped TiO2 powders have been prepared by solvothermal synthesis using TiCl3 aqueous solution as precursor. The as-synthesized powders are composed of anatase and rutile and show light-yellow in color. The grain size is ranged from 10.3 nm to 19.1 nm by Scherrer's method and the specific surface area is ranged from 21 m2/g to 122 m2/g. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate that N atoms have been doped into the lattice of TiO2. Ti-N bonding and radical groups such as ×OH were detected on the surface of the powders. The synthesized N-doped TiO2 powders shows excellent visible-light photocatalytic activities and their absorption edge have been red-shifted to 560 nm.