A mesoporous Mo and N Co-doped TiO₂ nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic efficiency

This study reports the synthesis of a mesoporous Mo and N codoped anatase TiO₂ nanocomposite with many oxygen vacancies using a simple one-step hydrothermal method and subsequent calcination treatment. Both Mo and N were effectively co-incorporated into the anatase phase of TiO₂ without MoO phase segregation. The codoped catalyst demonstrated a mesoporous architecture with a surface area of 107.48 m² g^-1 and a pore volume of 0.2974 cm³ g^-1. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that both Mo and N dissolved in the TiO₂ lattice and created induced oxygen vacancies. The interaction of the dopants (Mo and N) and oxygen vacancies clearly affected TiO₂ crystal formation. Photocatalytic performance of the nanocomposite was investigated in terms of the decomposition of methyl orange at a concentration of 50 mg L^-1 in an aqueous solution. The results revealed a significant methyl orange degradation of up to 99.6% after 30 min irradiation under a UV light. The impressive performance of the nanocomposite is assigned to the synergetic effect of important factors, including the co-doping of metallic (Mo) and non-metallic (N) elements, oxygen vacancy defects, bandgap, crystallite size, mesoporous structure, and BET surface area.