Among all of the samples, NMTNR-4-500 showed the best photochemical stability, and it can still degrade 91.4% of MB within 60 min after five recycles. The rod-like structure takes many advantages,

FDA-approved Drug Library supplier such as easy separation, recovery, and high recycle rate, which could enhance the stability of the photocatalyst [23, 24]. However, it was noticed that the sample with the best catalytic efficiency (NMTNR-6-500) did not perform the best photochemical stability. This may be attributed to the destroyed nanorod structure caused by the excessive pores during the repeated use. Figure 8 The photochemical stability of different samples. Conclusions In summary, the N-doped mesoporous TiO2 nanorods had been successfully fabricated by a template-free modified sol–gel approach. Ammonium nitrate was used to form the mesoporous structure and provided the source of N dopants. The average length and the cross section diameter of the as-prepared BMS345541 samples were ca. 1.5 μm and ca. 80 nm, respectively. The BJH adsorption average pore diameters were in the range of 5 to 10 nm. The mesoporous TiO2 nanorods doped with 6% theoretical molar ratio of N and annealed at 500°C showed the best photocatalytic performance. The photodegradation rate constant of this sample is 0.092 min-1, which is 7.6 times higher than that of P25. Furthermore, the rod-like photocatalyst can be easily separated and recycled, which could enhance the stability of the

photocatalyst. The results provide useful insights for designing highly active photocatalyst. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of

Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2013-R1A1A2009154), the fund from a key project for Industry-Academia-Research in Jiangsu Province (BY2013030-04), and the fund from Colleges and Universities Erythromycin in Jiangsu Province Plans to Graduate Research and Innovation (CXLX13-812). Electronic supplementary material Additional file 1: Figure S1: IR spectra of TiO2 and NMTNR-4-500 before annealing. (DOC 51 KB) References 1. Asahi R, Morikawa T, Ohwaki T, Aoki K, Taga Y: Visible-light photocatalysis in nitrogen-doped titanium oxides. Sci 2001, 293:269–271.CrossRef 2. Harb M, Sautet P, Raybaud P: Anionic or cationic S-doping in bulk anatase TiO 2 : insights on optical absorption from first principles calculations. J Phys Chem C 2013, 117:8892–8902.CrossRef 3. Wang DH, Jia L, Wu XL, Lu LQ, Xu AW: One-step hydrothermal synthesis of N-doped TiO 2 /C nanocomposites with high visible light photocatalytic activity. Nanoscale 2012, 4:576–584.CrossRef 4. Yu A, Wu G, Zhang F, Yang Y, Guan N: Synthesis and characterization of N-doped TiO 2 nanowires with visible light response. Catal Lett 2009, 129:507–512.CrossRef 5. You H, Qi J, Ye L, Kang X, Hu LJ: Study on catalytic efficiency of Ag⁄ N co-doped TiO 2 nanotube arrays under visible light irradiation. Adv Mater Res 2013, 690:511–517. 6.