Author(s)

Ken-Ichi Hirota, Masahiko Maeda

College of Engineering, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Ishikawa, Japan.

In order to clarify the visible-light responsive photocatalysis of TiO₂ co-doped with Cu and N atoms, plasma-nitridation was taken place to Cu-doped TiO₂ film. Cu-doped TiO₂ films were prepared by dip-coating method and they were nitrided by nitrogen plasma in the plasma-enhanced CVD system. Cu-doped TiO₂ films before and after plasma-nitridation show similar X-ray diffraction peaks of anatase TiO₂. XPS analysis reveals that the ionic states of Ti and Cu in the Cu-doped TiO₂ films are Ti⁴⁺ and Cu⁺, respectively. After nitrogen plasma treatment, oxygen atoms are released by substitution of nitrogen atoms in the TiO₂ matrix, so that Cu⁺ is oxidized to generate Cu²⁺ and at the same time oxygen vacancy is formed. The absorption edge of both Cu-doped and plasma-nitrided Cu-doped TiO₂ did red shift. Visible-light responsive photocatalytic activity of the Cu-doped TiO₂ film degraded after nitrogen plasma treatment.

Sol-Gel, Cu-Doped Titania, Plasma-Nitridation, Photocatalysis

Hirota, K. and Maeda, M. (2017) Copper and Nitrogen Co-Doping Effect on Visible-Light Responsive Photocatalysis of Plasma-Nitrided Copper-Doped Titanium Oxide Film. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 5, 52-62. doi: 10.4236/msce.2017.512005.