Nano structured bismuth and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 as an efficient light harvesting photocatalyst under natural sunlight for the production of H2 by H2O splitting

• Bi, N co-doped TiO2 behaved as visible light harvesting H2O splitting photocatalyst.
• Substitution of nitrogen in to TiO2 lattice occurred only in presence of Bi.
• An optimized Bi loading N-doped TiO2 demonstrated 4.62 mmol/g of H2.

The bismuth (Bi) and nitrogen (N) co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts prepared by sol–gel method were subjected to water splitting under natural solar light irradiation. Doping of nitrogen in TiO2 lattice was occurred only in the presence of Bi. X-ray photo electronic spectra (XPS) revealed the presence of Bi and N on the surface and the Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectra emphasized that doping of N occurred in the form of both NOx− and NH species. These species were also characterized by EPR and Raman spectroscopy in the TiO2 lattice. A high rate of H2O splitting activity over 2 wt%Bi doped N-TiO2 photocatalyst was manifested by high ratio of NOx− species in the TiO2 lattice.

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