| Summary: | Titanium oxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) is a potential photocatalyst for removing toxic NO<sub>x</sub> from the atmosphere. Its practical application is, however, significantly limited by its low absorption into visible light and a high degree of charge recombination. The overall photocatalytic activity of TiO<sub>2</sub> remains too low since it can utilize only about 4–5% of solar energy. Nitrogen doping into the TiO<sub>2</sub> lattice takes advantage of utilizing a wide range of solar radiation by increasing the absorption capability towards the visible light region. In this work, N-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>, referred to as TC, was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation of tri-thiocyanuric acid (TCA) with P25 followed by heat treatment at 550 degrees C. The resulting nitrogen doping increased the visible-light absorption and enhanced the separation/transfer of photo-excited charge carriers by capturing holes by reduced titanium ions. As a result, TC samples exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities of 59% and 51% in NO oxidation under UV and visible light irradiation, in which the optimum mass ratio of TCA to P25 was found to be 10.
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