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Articles you may be interested inConversion of CH4/CO2 to syngas over Ni-Co/Al2O3-ZrO2 nanocatalyst synthesized via plasma assisted coimpregnation method: Surface properties and catalytic performance

Hydrogen is among several energy sources that will be needed to replace the quickly diminishing fossil fuels. Free hydrogen is not available naturally on earth and the current processes require a fossil fuel, methane, to generate hydrogen. Electrochemical splitting of water on titania proposed by Fujishima suffers from low efficiency. The efficiency could be enhanced if full sun spectrum can be utilized. Using pulsed laser deposition technique we synthesized nitrogen doped titanium dioxide (TiO2−xNx) thin films with improved visible light sensitivity. The photoactivity was found to be N concentration dependent. Hydrogen evolution was observed under visible light irradiation (wavelength>390 nm) without the presence of any organic electron donor.

Nitrogen-doped titania (N-doped TiO2) and nitrogen-carbon co-doped titania (N-C-doped TiO2) were prepared in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) processes under the controlled reaction atmosphere. The N-doped TiO2 and N-C-doped TiO2 with anatase phase were prepared at 600Â oC under N2-O2-NH3 and N2-NH3 atmospheres respectively. The N-C-doped TiO2 exhibited the high photocatalytic activity for the oxidation of NO under visible-light illuminations. The chamber atmosphere in the MOCVD process plays an important role on the surface lattice structure and nitrogen and carbon content of TiO2. The nitrogen and carbonaceous species on the TiO2 surface, evidenced from X-ray diffractometry (XRD), UV-VIS, and Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), were inferred as important factors for narrowing band gap of titania and enhancement of its visible-light-responsive activity.

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