Preparation and characterization of nanocrystalline Fe/N co-doped titania

Doping nitrogen in TiO2 enhances photoresponse in visible light region while doping iron reduces the recombination of photo-induced electrons and holes. In this work, a simple procedure for preparing nitrogen and iron co-doped titanium dioxide nanocrystalline (Fe/N-TiO2) by calcinating the mixture of Degussa P-25 TiO2, zero-valent iron (ZVI), and NH4Cl at the temperature of 400°C under airtight condition. Characterization of Fe/N-TiO2 was investigated by ESCA, XRD, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The results showed that ZVI was transformed to FeTiO5 and Fe2O3 while the absorption wavelength of Fe/N-TiO2 was shifted to the visible light region for maximum of 561 nm, indicating the band gap narrowing by incorporation of the nitrogen and ZVI to TiO2.