The chemical interaction between plasma-excited nitrogen and the surface of titanium dioxide

The chemical interaction between plasma-excited nitrogen and TiO2 surface was studied by using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. When the plasma-excited nitrogen was exposed to TiO2 at room temperature, the decrease in the intensity of the OH band correlated well with the increase in the intensities of the N-H stretching bands of NH3(a). These results suggested that the plasma-excited nitrogen reacted with the surface hydroxyl groups on TiO2 to form NH3(a) even at room temperature. NH3 (74.4%), NO (20.5%) and N2 (5.1%) were desorbed after heating the TiO2 at 450°C, and a possible mechanism was discussed.