In situ growth of TiO nanoparticles on nitrogen-doped TiC with isopropyl amine toward enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Construction of heterojunction and nitrogen doping is an effective approach for synthesizing photocatalysts with high quantum yield and efficient electron-hole separation. 2D MXene TiC has been considered a good carbonaceous nanomaterial for designing heterojunction, while the original surface groups and stacked structure limit the electron-hole separation. Herein, a hybrid of nitrogen-doped TiC nanosheets and TiO nanoparticles (NPs) composed of TiO NPs in situ growing on isopropyl amine (iPA) modified TiC (iN-TiC) was developed for the first time. The novel iN-TiC/TiO hybrid exhibited an excellent ultraviolet-light photodegradation of methylene blue (MB), with a degradation rate (0.02642 min) significantly higher than that of pure TiO NPs, bulk-TiC/TiO, dimethyl sulfoxide modified TiC/TiO hybrid, and hydrazine monohydrate modified TiC/TiO hybrid. The formation of heterojunction between iN-TiC and TiO and its role in the photocatalysis were systematically analyzed using various characterization techniques and density functional theory calculation. The iPA modification exfoliated TiC and doped N on TiC nanosheets; the in situ grown TiO NPs formed efficient heterojunctions with the nanosheets; the N-doping facilitated electron migration in TiC and inhibited the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs; •OH dominated the photodegradation of MB. This work provides a new approach of constructing efficient photocatalysts for the treatment of organics-polluted water.