Abstract
A series of Nb–S co-doped titania (NST) nanoparticles was successfully produced in a single step by sol–gel method using titanium (IV) chloride, niobium (V) chloride and thiourea as precursors followed by annealing. The co-doping of sulfur and niobium caused a dramatic red-shift in absorption, improvement in surface properties and enhancement in thermal stability of the anatase phase. The reflectance spectra showed that the band gap of TiO2 shifted when the Nb content was low (1 % Nb). Annealing at higher temperature showed an increase in particle size, decrease in absorbance and decrease in band gap energy. This observation was understood in terms of band bending with potential application in solar cells. The NST was further characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thermal analysis. The results indicated that Nb and S are homogeneously incorporated into the anatase lattice by substitution of Ti and O, respectively. The XRD showed that Nb–S co-doped titania nanoparticles included the anatase phase at 350 °C calcination temperature. The SEM analysis revealed that the doping of Nb and S did not cause a change in morphology of the catalyst surface. The average crystallite size of the NST with semi-spherical shape was 21 nm.
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