Sn and S co-doped N-TiO nanoparticles for efficient and photocatalytic removal of contaminants

• Published in: Catalysis science & technology 2020-07, Vol.1 (14), p.489-4819
• Main Authors: He, Jiahui, Ye, Jin, Ge, Kai, Cao, Jiayu, Fu, Congcong, Li, Zhenxing, Zhang, Yue, Yang, Yongfang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2044-4753; 2044-4761
• DOI: 10.1039/d0cy00463d

N-TiO 2− x nanoparticles (NPs) were selected as a basic construction unit because there are many Ti 3+ and O vacancies on its surface. When S 2− and Sn 4+ are co-doped into the N-TiO 2− x lattice, the O 2− and Ti 4+ atoms can be replaced, respectively. The formation of dopant energy levels from Sn 4+ and S 2− in Sn 4+ /S 2− /N-TiO 2− x causes an obvious red shift to the visible light region. The recombination rate of the e − /h + pairs was significantly reduced due to the fast migration and separation of the electrons as a result of the energy level doping from Sn 4+ and S 2− and the formation of electron traps with Sn 4+ . The N-TiO 2− x NP band gap was significantly narrowed from 3.07 eV to 0.77 eV upon co-doping with Sn 4+ and S 2− , resulting in the superior photocatalytic activity of the Sn 4+ /S 2− /N-TiO 2− x NPs. The photocatalytic reduction rate of Cr( vi ) increased by 11.6 times and the photodegradation rate of doxycycline hydrochloride (DH) achieved about 5.7 times that of the original N-TiO 2− x NPs. This study provided a simple approach to preparing metal and non-metal co-doped N-TiO 2− x NPs, which could greatly improve the removal efficiency of contaminants via their synergistic effect. N-TiO 2− x nanoparticles (NPs) were selected as a basic construction unit because there are many Ti 3+ and O vacancies on its surface.