Issue 5, 2020

Bandgap engineering via boron and sulphur doped carbon modified anatase TiO2: a visible light stimulated photocatalyst for photo-fixation of N2 and TCH degradation

Abstract

The present research reports the synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) sheet/flake-like nanostructures of crystalline carbon modified TiO2 (CT), B-TiO2 (B-CT), and S-TiO2 (S-CT) using a facile one-pot synthesis method. The crystallinity and phase purity (anatase) of the prepared nano-photocatalyst were characterised using X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis. Furthermore, the morphological details and elemental content of the sample were studied via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. Additionally, the optoelectronic features of all of the prepared specimens were measured via UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL), impedance and Mott–Schottky studies. After successful characterisation, their photocatalytic performance was tested towards dinitrogen photo-fixation and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) degradation under visible light illumination. Moreover, the effective charge separation and greater availability of the active surface area led to the robust photocatalytic activity of the fabricated B-CT compared to the CT and S-CT samples, which correlates well with the PL, impedance and surface area analysis. B-CT displays the highest photocatalytic activity, i.e. 32.38 μmol L−1 (conversion efficiency = 0.076%) of ammonia production, and 95% tetracycline hydrochloride (10 ppm) degradation. Here, we have effectively designed a novel and productive pathway towards the enhancement of the photocatalytic performance of visible photon active TiO2-based materials for energy and environmental sustainability.

Graphical abstract: Bandgap engineering via boron and sulphur doped carbon modified anatase TiO2: a visible light stimulated photocatalyst for photo-fixation of N2 and TCH degradation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 mar 2020
Accepted
26 mar 2020
First published
31 mar 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale Adv., 2020,2, 2004-2017

Bandgap engineering via boron and sulphur doped carbon modified anatase TiO2: a visible light stimulated photocatalyst for photo-fixation of N2 and TCH degradation

S. Mansingh, K. K. Das, A. Behera, S. Subudhi, S. Sultana and K. Parida, Nanoscale Adv., 2020, 2, 2004 DOI: 10.1039/D0NA00183J

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