Tuning the Synthetic Parameters to Obtain Smart C-N Co-Doped Titania Photocatalysts for NOx Abatement

Global society is constantly seeking for sustainable and effective processes to fight environmental pollution. The abatement of NO, a class of hazardous contaminants, can be performed by means of photocatalytic oxidation using titaniabased photocatalysts. Non-metal doping is highly desirable for an efficient exploitation of solar light. The co-presence of nitrogen and carbon represents an appealing possibility though their introduction generally requires post-synthesis treatments. Otherwise, in this work carbon and nitrogen have been introduced in titania photocatalysts simultaneously by a onepot synthetic approach using a natural and sustainable source of dopants, namely chitosan. Several synthetic parameters have been changed in order to evaluate their effect on the physicochemical properties of the final materials and to establish structure-activity relationship as for the photocatalytic performances in NOx oxidation under visible light irradiation.