Simple fabrication of rod-like N-doped TiO2/Ag with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract Rod-like N-doped TiO 2 /Ag composites were successfully synthesized by a modified sol–gel method, without adding any surfactants. The entire preparation differs from the traditional sol–gel synthesis of TiO 2 that the reaction can get controlled by adjusting the flow speed of water vapor and NH 3 . Characterization results show that as-prepared samples were uniform nanorods with an average length of ca. 3 µm and a cross section diameter of ca. 150 nm. The rod-like structure was formed during the annealing process. A possible mechanism was proposed to illustrate the formation of rod-like Ag–N–TiO 2 . The degradation of methylene blue performed under visible light with the prepared nanorods as the photocatalyst demonstrated the photocatalytic activities of TiO 2 can be improved by the synergistic effect of N doping and Ag modification. In addition, as-prepared TiO 2 -based photocatalyst exhibits a significantly enhanced photo-chemical stability after 5 catalytic cycles mainly due to the rod-like morphology. This indicated that they have some potential value in practical application.