Synthesis, characterization and photoluminescence study of modified titania

Abstract

The modified titania has been prepared by nitrogen doping and dispersion of nano-gold particles. They were characterized by using X-ray diffractometer, UV-visible spectrophotometer, BET surface area analyzer, laser Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope. Both X-ray diffraction and laser Raman studies reveal the existence of anatase phase of titania in unmodified and modified samples. UV-visible study shows that TiO₂ absorption band shifted from UV to visible region due to nitrogen doping. Nitrogen doped titania exhibits strong luminescence in comparison to titania, possibly due to oxygen vacancy created by nitrogen doping. Similarly, Au modified titania shows better luminescence than titania which could be due to interaction between metallic Au particles and titania.