Preparation of nitrogen doped TiO2 photocatalyst by oxidation of titanium nitride with H2O2

Highlights: → N-doped TiO2 are prepared by hydrothermally treating TiN with H2O2. → The content of N in TiO2 can be controlled by the concentration of H2O2. → The as-prepared N-TiO2 shows higher photocatalytic activity under visible light. -- Abstract: Nitrogen doped anatase TiO2 (N-TiO2) were prepared by hydrothermally treating TiN with H2O2. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The results confirmed that the hydrothermal oxidation is an effective method to prepare N-doped TiO2 anatase. The nitrogen concentration in TiO2 could be controlled by the concentration of H2O2 solution. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) was carried out under visible light and UV-visible light irradiation, respectively. The as-prepared optimal N-TiO2 showed higher photocatalytic activity than N-P25 and P25, and exhibited excellent reusability.