One-step fabrication of N-doped mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles by self-assembly for photocatalytic water splitting under visible light

A facile synthesis route is reported for preparation of N-doped mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles (NMT-x) through evaporation induced self-assembly by using pluronic F127, titanium isopropoxide, and various amounts of urea as templating agents, titanium and nitrogen sources, respectively. A variety of different spectroscopic and analytical techniques, such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman, UV–vis and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of various NMT-x catalysts. Among the samples, NMT-1.25 catalysts, which may be due to moderate N-doping (3.46 at.%) and surface area (67 m2 g−1) of mesoporous TiO2, were found to possess surpassing photocatalytic activities of hydrogen production from water splitting under visible light if compared with the conventional TiO2 photocatalyst.

► A simple route to synthesize mesostructure of N-doped TiO2 with crystalline anatase phase. ► Photocatalytic activity of catalysts is surpassing that of commercial catalysts. ► This may be attributed to the moderate N-doping and surface area of synthesized catalysts.