Synthesis and Characterization of Novel N-doped TiO₂ Photocatalyst with Visible Light Active

A novel N-doped TiO₂ (N₁-N₂-TiO₂) with substitutional and interstitial N impurities simul-taneously was successfully synthesized.The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and electron paramagnetic resonance. The results demonstrated that the nitrogen was substi-tuted for the lattice oxygen atoms, and was also interstitially doped into the TiO₂ lattice.The photocatalytic tests indicated that the N₁-N₂-TiO₂ showed the highest photocatalytic activities of all the N-doped TiO₂ under visible light, attributing to the synergetic effect of substitutional and interstitial nitrogen of N-doped TiO₂.