Enhanced photocatalytic activity of hydroxylated and N-doped anatase derived from amorphous hydrate

The hydrogenation on unmodified TiO2 to create disordered layers on the surface of anatase nanocrystals (NCs) in order to enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 has been widely investigated in recent years. In this contribution, we prepared hydroxylated and N-doped anatase by controlling the degree of disorder of TiO2 derived from amorphous hydrate through a traditional pathway of heat treatment, which induced various colours in appearance and outstanding photocatalytic activities. The traditional method by heating to prepare hydroxylated TiO2 in this work is a reverse route compared to the pathway by hydrogenation, which opens opportunites for the modification of nano-dimension semiconductors derived from amorphous hydrates.