Hydrothermal synthesis of Fe/N Co-doped titanium dioxide and its sterilization activity via E. coli under visible light irradiation

Using TiOSO4 as precursor, Fe(NO3) 3·9H2O as the source of Fe, CN3H 5HCl as the source of N, Fe/N co-doped TiO2 powder has been prepared by hydrothermal method. The as-prepared powders were characterized by XRD, BET, TEM and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The nanocrystalline Fe/N Co-doped TiO2 powders are composed of anatase and show light-yellow in color. The grain size is about 11.1nm and the specific surface area is 145m2/g. XPS results show that N atoms and Fe atoms were incorporated into the lattice of TiO2 and the concentration of N and Fe doped in TiO2 was 0.8at% and 2.2at%, respectively. The UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectra indicate that the absorption edges of the co-doped TiO 2 powders has well red-shifted into visible light region up to 606nm. The Fe/N co-doped TiO2 exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity by sterilizing E. coli completely within 1 hour under visible light irradiation.