Facile one-pot hydrothermal method to prepare Sn(Ⅱ) and N co-doped TiO_(2) photocatalyst for water splitting under visible light irradiation

In this paper,a visible light-responsive Sn^(2+)and N co-doped TiO_(2)photocatalyst was prepared by facile one-pot hydrothermal method.All as-prepared samples were characterized in detail by a series of characterization approaches.The results showed that the Sn^(2+)and N elements were co-doped into TiO_(2),while the catalyst still maintains anatase crystal structure and gets irregular little nanocluster in diameter of 9–10 nm with higher specific surface area.The absorption edge of Sn^(2+)and N co-doped TiO_(2)extends to the visible light region.Compared with Sn^(2+)-doped TiO_(2)and N-TiO_(2),the absorption edges have obvious red-shift of about 50 and 70 nm,respectively.The synergistic effect of O 2p-N 2p and O 2p-Sn 5s hybridization to form impurity levels is the main reason for the red-shift.The hydrogen production performance of the Sn^(2+)and N co-doping TiO_(2)(n(N)/n(Ti)=1)catalyst reached the maximum value of 0.37 mmol·h^(-1)·g^(-1)under visible light,which is higher than that of N-doped TiO_(2)and SnTiO_(2)-doped TiO_(2)singly.This result is due to the wider visible light region-responsive ability of Sn^(2+)and N codoped into TiO_(2).Furthermore,mild hydrothermal methods will not make the Sn^(2+)oxidized to Sn^(4+),which make the catalysts still maintain high photocatalytic performance.This work provides a simple and mild method for the preparation of dual-element co-doped TiO_(2)with high crystallinity,excellent performance and broad application prospects.