The Influence of Carbon Doping on TiO₂Nanoparticle Size, Surface Area, Anatase to Rutile Phase Transformation and Photocatalytic Activity

Visible light-sensitive carbon doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles (C-TiO 2 ) were prepared by a sol-gel method. The carbon dopant was obtained from glucose. The dopant level incorporated into the TiO 2 lattice structure was varied by using different concentrations of the carbon source solution. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET Surface area, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SXPS) and Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The presence of carbon in the TiO 2 lattice was determined by SXPS. The DRS results revealed that carbon doping reduced the band gap of TiO 2 . Doping was also found to cause a reduction in the particle size of the TiO 2 nanoparticles and enhance anatase to rutile phase transformation. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared samples were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. The carbon doped TiO 2 showed a higher photocatalytic activity than degussa P25 and undoped TiO 2 .