One‐Pot Synthesis of Nitrogen‐doped TiO₂ Nanowires with Enhanced Photocurrent Generation

Abstract

A nitrogen‐doped TiO 2 (N‐TiO 2 ) nanowire film was synthesized via a one‐pot hydrothermal method using triethylamine as nitrogen source. The effect of the concentration of the triethylamine on the films was evaluated. In addition, the N‐TiO 2 nanowires were characterized using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. A 3.2× enhancement of the photocurrent for N‐TiO 2 (0.6) was achieved over the as‐prepared TiO 2 nanowire, under AM1.5G solar illumination. This was due to nitrogen doping, which could narrow the bandgap of titania to extend the adsorption of the catalyst to the visible light region.