Characterisation of oxygen defects and nitrogen impurities in TiO2 photocatalysts using variable-temperature X-ray powder diffraction

Christopher Foo, Yiyang Li, Konstantin Lebedev, Tianyi Chen, Sarah Day, Chiu Tang and Shik Chi Edman Tsang ()
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Christopher Foo: Department of Chemistry University of Oxford
Yiyang Li: Department of Chemistry University of Oxford
Konstantin Lebedev: Department of Chemistry University of Oxford
Tianyi Chen: Department of Chemistry University of Oxford
Sarah Day: Diamond Light Source
Chiu Tang: Diamond Light Source
Shik Chi Edman Tsang: Department of Chemistry University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract TiO2-based powder materials have been widely studied as efficient photocatalysts for water splitting due to their low cost, photo-responsivity, earthly abundance, chemical and thermal stability, etc. In particular, the recent breakthrough of nitrogen-doped TiO2, which enhances the presence of structural defects and dopant impurities at elevated temperatures, exhibits an impressive visible-light absorption for photocatalytic activity. Although their electronic and optical properties have been extensively studied, the structure-activity relationship and photocatalytic mechanism remain ambiguous. Herein, we report an in-depth structural study of rutile, anatase and mixed phases (commercial P25) with and without nitrogen-doping by variable-temperature synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. We report that an unusual anisotropic thermal expansion of the anatase phase can reveal the intimate relationship between sub-surface oxygen vacancies, nitrogen-doping level and photocatalytic activity. For highly doped anatase, a new cubic titanium oxynitride phase is also identified which provides important information on the fundamental shift in absorption wavelength, leading to excellent photocatalysis using visible light.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-20977-z

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