Confined Preparation of N-doped Commercial P25 TiO₂ Photocatalysts with Fast Charge Separation by Argon-diluted Nitrogen Plasma Treatment

摘要

N-doped TiO2 attracts enormous attention due to its cheapness and excellent visible-light-drivenphotocatalytic activity. An approach assisted by Nitrogen plasma to synthesize the N-doped TiO2 ispresented in our work by using commercial available Degussa P25 as raw material. X-rayphotoelectron spectroscope (XPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurement resultsshow that the evidence of N doping and the formation of surface disorder layer, which can both serveas active sites. Electrochemical characterizations verified the excellent photo-generated chargeseparation feature of the obtained N-doped P25 TiO2. High absorption of visible light, fast chargeseparation and numerous active sites ensure the excellent photocatalytic activity for the N-doped P25TiO2 in the photo-oxidation of organic molecules in water. It is noteworthy that the Argon-assistantNitrogen plasma treatment is superior to conventional pure Nitrogen plasma treatment because ofconfined Nitrogen ionization. From the results, this plasma treatment method may open up a new wayto the application of plasma technology in the activation commercial materials.