Photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties of N + S co-doped TiO2 nanotube array films under visible light irradiation

In this paper, we report on the co-doping nitrogen and sulfur has been achieved in the TiO2 nanotube array films by treatment with thiourea and calcination under vacuum at 500 °C for 3 h. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. XPS spectra revealed that N might coexist in the forms of NTiO and NOTi, S was incorporated into the lattice of TiO2 through substituting oxygen atoms in the N + S co-doped TiO2 nanotube array films. XRD patterns indicated that improved crystallinity was obtained for N + S co-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays as compared to that of undoped TiO2 nanotube arrays. In photoelectrochemical measurements, the photocurrent of N + S co-doped TiO2 nanotube array films was greatly enhanced compared to that of undoped samples under visible light irradiation. And the photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated on the removal of methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The N + S co-doped TiO2 nanotube array films showed a better photocatalytic activity than the undoped sample due to the N, S doping.