Visible-Light Photocatalysis in Nitrogen-Doped Titanium Oxides

To use solar irradiation or interior lighting efficiently, we sought a photocatalyst with high reactivity under visible light. Films and powders of TiO 2- x N x have revealed an improvement over titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) under visible light (wavelength < 500 nanometers) in optical absorption and photocatalytic activity such as photodegradations of methylene blue and gaseous acetaldehyde and hydrophilicity of the film surface. Nitrogen doped into substitutional sites of TiO 2 has proven to be indispensable for band-gap narrowing and photocatalytic activity, as assessed by first-principles calculations and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy.