Structural studies on copper and nitrogen doped nanosized anatase

Pure TiO2, N- and Cu-doped and double-doped (Cu, N) samples were synthesized via sol-gel route in order to investigate the local and average structure of the crystalline TiO2 synthesized under different pH conditions. Samples are mainly constituted of anatase phase, even though low but significant amounts of secondary brookite grew in most samples. A detailed structural characterization was performed by means of synchrotron X-ray elastic scattering experiments; structural data of the different samples were obtained by means of the Rietveld refinement, whereas insights about their local structure were gained by means of the pair distribution analysis.