Enhanced photocatalytic activity of zeolite-encapsulated TiO2 clusters by complexation with organic additives and N-doping

In the literature it was found that titanium oxide clusters of a few metal atoms encapsulated inside the micropores of zeolite Y exhibit large blue shifts in the Ti-O ligand-to-metal charge-transfer bond as compared to non-encapsulated bulk titanium dioxide particles. This blue shift of the Ti-O absorption bond is believed to have a negative effect on the photocatalytic activity of zeolite-encapsulated TiO2. We report here on circumventing this problem and increasing visible-light absorption by means of a red shift of the absorption bond caused by addition of some organic molecular modifiers containing acidic OH groups that can strongly bind with titanol groups TiOH. In the studied series of zeolite-encapsulated TiO2 samples, the red shift of the optical spectrum follows the order: catechol > 4-aminobenzoic acid > benzoic acid. Also N-doping of zeolite-encapsulated TiO2 clusters by thermal treatment with urea leads to a red shift of the TiO2 absorption bond that depends on the annealing and hydration conditions. By comparison to the degradation of phenol in aqueous solution, we have demonstrated that these changes in the absorption spectrum on addition of the organic modifier are also reflected in the photocatalytic activity of the samples; a greater increase in photocatolytic activity (about 30%) was observed for the additive catechol.