Abstract
Τhe photocatalytic activity in the range of visible light wavelengths and the thermal stability of the structure were significantly enhanced in Si, N co-doped nano-sized TiO2, and synthesized through high-energy mechanical milling of TiO2 and SiO2 powders, which was followed by calcination at 600 °C in an ammonia atmosphere. High-energy mechanical milling had a pronounced effect on the mixing and the reaction between the starting powders and greatly favored the transformation of the resultant powder mixture into an amorphous phase that contained a large number of evenly-dispersed nanocrystalline TiO2 particles as anatase seeds. The experimental results suggest that the elements were homogeneously dispersed at an atomic level in this amorphous phase. After calcination, most of the amorphous phase was crystallized, which resulted in a unique nano-sized crystalline-core/disordered-shell morphology. This novel experimental process is simple, template-free, and provides features of high reproducibility in large-scale industrial production.
Highlights
The strong and increasing presence of organic contaminants currently in the environment leads to many studies about photocatalytic degradation of photocatalytic materials
These results are in broad agreement with the images of TEM and HRTEM
High thermal stability and high photocatalytic activity of Si, N co-doped anatase TiO2 phase was achieved by high-energy ball-milling and heat treatment of the produced samples in an ammonia atmosphere
Summary
The strong and increasing presence of organic contaminants currently in the environment leads to many studies about photocatalytic degradation of photocatalytic materials. Anatase, which is one of the mineral forms of TiO2, is more active under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation than the other TiO2 crystalline phases such as brookite and rutile [6–8]. Anatase TiO2 has a 3.2 eV wide band gap. Due to this value, only an approximate 3% of the arriving solar energy on earth can be used by anatase TiO2 [9–11]. Anatase TiO2 is thermodynamically a high-temperature metastable structure, which can irreversibly transform into rutile TiO2 after calcination at ca. Rutile has a smaller band gap (=3.0 eV) than anatase, it exhibits poor photocatalytic activity because of the intrinsic features of the crystaline structure of rutile [12–14]. Anatase TiO2 synthesized at low temperatures has poor crystallinity, which deteriorates its photocatalytic activity [15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
