Novel approach for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped titania with variable phase composition and enhanced production of hydrogen under solar irradiation

Abstract

In order to maximize the photocatalytic production of hydrogen, it is desirable to develop an efficient photocatalyst with enhanced yield and visible sensitivity. To this end, we developed a novel method to synthesize nitrogen doped TiO2 with anatase/rutile/brookite mixed phases in aqueous urea solutions. The hydrogen production capacity of the nitrogen doped multiphase TiO2 (e.g., anatase (69%)/brookite (17%)/rutile (14%)), when assessed under solar light irradiation, was six times higher than that of commercial Degussa P25 and bare TiO2 catalysts. Such enhanced efficiency was ascribed to increased visible absorption along with effective electron hole separation between the different crystalline phases.