Bandgap engineering via Boron and Sulphur doped carbon modified Anatase TiO2 : A Visible light stimulated Photocatalyst for Photo-Fixation of N2 and TCH Degradation

The present research reports the synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) sheet/flake like nanostructures of crystalline carbon modified TiO2(CT), B-TiO2(B-CT), and S-TiO2(S-CT) by using a facile one-pot synthesis method. Crystallinity and phase purity (anatase) of prepared nano-photocatalyst were characterised by X-ray diffraction, SAED and HRTEM analysis. Further, the morphological details and elemental content of the sample were studied via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and XPS instrument respectively. Additionally, the optoelectronic features of all prepared specimens were vividly measured via UV-vis DRS, PL, impedance and Mott-Schottky studies. After successful characterisation, its photocatalytic performance was tested towards dinitrogen photo-fixation and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) degradation under visible light illumination. Moreover, effective charge separation and more availability of active surface area lead to robust photocatalytic activity of fabricated B-CT compared to CT and S-CT samples, which is well co-related with PL, impedance and surface area analysis. B-CT displays the highest photocatalytic activity i.e. 32.38μmole L-1 of ammonia production and 95% tetracycline hydrochloride (10ppm) degradation and hence proves its superiority among the other synthesized catalyst. Here we have effectively designed a novel and productive pathway towards enhancement of photocatalytic performance of TiO2 based materials for energy and environmental sustainability.