Preparation and Characterization of Nitrogen Doped Tio2 Nanoparticles as an Effective Catalyst in Photodegradation of Phenol Under Visible Light

Nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanoparticles of commercial Degussa P25 have been prepared via a direct impregnation reaction using ammonium hydroxide solution as nitrogen source. The Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area BJH pore charecterization and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results demonstrated that the nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanoparticles had a crystallite size 70.8 nm and a specific surface area of 6.4 m(2)/g with average pore diameter of 23.3 nm consisting mainly of titanium and oxygen. The photocatalyst activity was determined by degradation of phenol in an impinging stream reactor under visible light irradiation (lambda> 400 nn). N-TiO2 catalyst exhibited higher photocatalytic activity in comparison with Degussa P25 under visible light irradiation.