Photocatalytic activities of N doped TiO2 coatings on 316L stainless steel by plasma surface alloying technique

Nitrogen doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) coatings were fabricated by oxidation of the TiNx coatings in air. TiNx coatings were prepared on stainless steel (SS) substrates by plasma surface alloying technique. The reference TiO2 sample was also deposited by oxidation of the Ti coatings in air. The as-prepared coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ultra violet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The formation of anatase type TiO2 is confirmed by XRD. SEM measurement indicates a rough surface morphology with sharp, protruding modules after annealing treatment. The band gap of the N-doped sample is reduced from 3.25 eV to 3.08 eV compared with the undoped one. All the N-doped samples show red shift in photoresponse towards visible region and improved photocurrent density under visible irradiance is observed for the N-doped samples. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated via the photocatalytic oxidation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous under visible light irradiation. The results reveal that the N-doped samples extend the light absorption spectrum toward the visible region. The degradation rate of N-TiO2 is 20% in visible irradiation for 150 min.