Preparation and characterization of a novel activated carbon‐supported N‐doped visible light response photocatalyst (TiO2−xNy/AC)

A photocatalyst, TiO2−xNy/AC (activated carbon (AC) supported N‐doped TiO2), highly active in both the Vis and UV range, was prepared by calcination of the TiO2 precursor prepared by acid‐catalyzed hydrolysis in an ammonia atmosphere. The powders were characterized by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and phenol degradation. The doped N in the TiO2 crystal lattice creates an electron‐occupied intra‐band gap allowing electron‐hole pair generation under Vis irradiation (500–560 nm). The TiO2−xNy/AC exhibited high levels of activity and the same activity trends for phenol degradation under both Vis and UV irradiation: TiO2−xNy/AC calcined at 500 °C for 4 h exhibited the highest activity. The band‐gap level newly formed by doped N can act as a center for the photo‐generated holes and is beneficial for the UV activity enhancement. The performance of the prepared TiO2−xNy/AC photocatalyst revealed its practical potential in the field of solar photocatalytic degradation of aqueous contaminants.