Coaction of sub-band and doped nitrogen on visible light photoactivity of N-doped TiO2

We found in our previous work that the high photoactivity of N-doped TiO₂ for the oxidation of propylene under visible light was attributed to the photoactive center V_o^•-NO-Ti and the formation of sub-band originated from a large amount of single-electron-trapped oxygen vacancies (denoted as V_o^•; C. X. Feng, Y. Wang, Z. S. Jin, J. W. Zhang, S. L. Zhang, Z. S. Wu, Z. J. Zhang 2008], New J. Chem. 32 , 1038). In the present study, the structure of the sub-band within E_g of a representative sample N-NTA-400 was investigated by means of photoluminescence (PL) spectrometry and ultraviolet-visible light-near infrared diffuse reflectance spectra. The coaction of the sub-band and doped nitrogen on visible light photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO₂ was also investigated. The electron spin resonance spectra measured under laser irradiation (λ = 532 nm) indicate that the doped nitrogen may contribute to stabilize the trapping electron center, i.e. surface oxygen vacancy (V_o^••), and hence suppress the PL, enhancing the photocatalytic activity.