Influence of heteroatom doping of TiO<inf>2</inf> nanoparticle on the red shift and the related catalytic activity

N-doped anatase TiO2 has been prepared by thermal decomposition of Ti containing metal complexes. The light absorption onset has been shifted to the visible region by ∼ 100 nm when compared to pure TiO2. The N environment of N-doped TiO2 has been studied by XPS and the results confirm the presence of N-Ti-O in the N-doped samples. Also, there is a shift in the binding energy values of Ti 2p3/2, and the additional peak for O Is in N-doped TiO2 confirms the increase in the covalent nature of TiO2 during the N-doping. The photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2 has been studied both in the UV and visible regions and N-doped TiO2 shows higher activity than the Degussa TiO2 in the visible region. © World Scientific Publishing Company.