Preparation and characterization of nitrogen-doped mesoporous titania with high specific surface area

Nitrogen-doped mesoporous titania aerogel photocatalysts were prepared by supercritical drying technique with carbon dioxide (SCCO2) and calcination the urea impregnated TiO2 aerogel at 773 K under NH3 or N2 + NH3aq gaseous atmosphere. The pore properties were investigated from nitrogen adsorption measurement at 77 K. The prepared N-doped TiO2 aerogel had a high specific surface area (116 m2/g), a total pore volume (0.33 cm3/g) and a sharp pore radius distribution (rpeak = 4.2 nm). The doping of the nitrogen atom into the TiO2 lattice is expected from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Nitrogen states in the lattice and crystalline structure were measured using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The N-doped TiO2 aerogel absorbed well into the visible region up to 600 nm.