Visible light performance of carbon doped nanoporous titania photocatalysts

The need to fight climate change and pollution, in the past few years has been recognized worldwide as a priority to safeguard environment and people's health. The investment from the government and the private sector on green technology for renewable energy witnessed in fact a substantial growth. Along with carbon dioxide, the presence of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen dioxides in the air reached a level of concentration that not only compromises the quality of the air we breathe but also leads to severe degradation of the environment. To remove these gaseous compounds from the air neutralizing their toxic effects, researchers have been synthesizing nano and mesoporous photocatalysts that can catalyze and transform these molecules into harmless solid products, like salts. Among these catalysts there are doped titanium dioxide materials. This work discusses the synthesis of doped titanium dioxide with high content of carbon to enhance the photo-oxidation of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen dioxides under a broad light spectrum.