Enhancing Photocatalytic Activity of Nitrogen Doped TiO2 for Degradation of 4-Chlorophenol under Solar Light Irradiation

The nitrogen doped TiO2 as heterogeneous photocatalyst via sol-gel method were successfully synthesized. The physicochemical, morphological and textural characteristics of the obtained TiO2 samples were characterized by advanced analysis techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the samples were evaluated for degradation of 4-CP under solar irradiation. The as-synthesized photocatalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurements (BET and BJH), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDX). The activities of as-prepared TiO2 photocatalysts were examined for the degradation of 4-Chlorophenol aqueous solution under solar irradiation in a photoreactor and photocatalytic degradation mechanism and pathway have been investigated. The results show that the 3% wt. N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles under conditions (solution pH of 4.0, catalyst loading of 2 g/L, initial 4-CP concentration of 10 mg/L, Time of 8 h) exhibits much higher photocatalytic degradation efficiency (91%) as compared with that of 5% wt. N-doped (83%), 1% wt. N-doped (71%), and pure TiO2 (35%).