Codoping Effect of Nitrogen (N) to Iron (Fe) Doped Zirconium Titanate (ZrTiO₄) Composite toward Its Visible Light Responsiveness as Photocatalysts

Abstract

Iron (Fe) and nitrogen (N) were introduced as dopants into zirconium titanate (ZrTiO4) in order to study the codoping effects of nitrogen on iron-doped zirconium titanate (Fe,N-codoped ZrTiO4) composite. Titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP), zirconia (ZrO2), urea, and iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate were used as the source of TiO2, semiconductor supports, source of nitrogen, and iron, respectively. A specific amount of iron (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 wt.%) and a fixed nitrogen content (10 wt.%) were doped into the ZrTiO4 lattice. Various calcination temperatures (from 500 to 900 °C) were also applied to investigate the crystal structure of the composite. The composites were characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX), and specular reflectance UV-Vis (SR-UV). The lowest bandgap energy of 2.62 eV was obtained in the composite with 3 wt.% of Fe and 10 wt.% of N calcined at 500 °C.

Photodegradation of Phenol under Visible Light Irradiation Using Cu-N-codoped ZrTiO₄ Composite as a High-Performance Photocatalyst

“…The E g is reduced up to 5% Cu doping, then is increased again as copper concentration increases as well. Cu doping with excess concentration can cause sintering, which forms aggregates that are not evenly distributed [24]. The E g of ZrTiO 4 is slightly smaller due to the broad E g of ZrO 2 mixing with the relatively narrow E g of TiO 2 until the equilibrium is reached.…”

“…This coupling will offer the added benefits of large surface area, high thermal stability, and corrosion resistance [20]. Doping of ZrTiO 4 with metals, such as Fe [21], Mn [22], and Zn [23], as well as non-metals such as N [24] and C [25], has been reported to decrease the band gap to visible light. Copper (Cu) and nitrogen (N) have been chosen as the dopants for this work, as they both have excellent efficiency in separating the charge carriers.…”

Copper-and-Nitrogen-Codoped Zirconium Titanate (Cu-N-ZrTiO₄) as a Photocatalyst for Photo-Degradation of Methylene Blue under Visible-Light Irradiation

“…Zirconium titanate (ZrTiO 4 ) modified by the doping method will decrease the band gap to visible light. Several studies have reported that doping can be done with metals such as Fe [26], Mn [27], and Zn [28] and also non-metals such as N [29] and C [30]. In this study, copper (Cu) and nitrogen (N) were chosen as dopants because they have good charge-carrier separation efficiency.…”