Enhancing the visible light absorption of titania nanoparticles by S and C doping in a single-step process

We report the synthesis of carbon coated and sulfur doped titania nanoparticles using a continuous, single-step laser pyrolysis technique. We employed air as oxidant and C2H4 as laser energy transfer agent (sensitizer)/carbon donor, both carrying the TiCl4 vapors as a titania precursor. The volatile (CH3)(2)S-2 was used to introduce sulfur as dopant in the nanopowders. The incorporation of C and S atoms in nanopowders with anatase dominant phase and with average particle diameter between 18 and 25 nm was performed through the addition of S-2(CH3)(2) and C2H4 to the reactive precursor mixtures. The samples were characterized by: EDX, XRD, TEM, XPS and UV-Vis spectroscopy. By the introduction of the sulfur precursor, the anatase-to-rutile ratio within the resulted TiO2-based nanoparticles decreased, as well as their bandgap energy values which are also lower than those of commercial TiO2 Degussa P25