Enhanced photocatalytic CO2-reduction activity of electrospun mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers by solvothermal treatment

Abstract

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into renewable hydrocarbon fuels using semiconductor photocatalysts is considered as a potential solution to the energy deficiency and greenhouse effect. In this work, mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers with high specific surface areas and abundant surface hydroxyl groups are prepared using an electrospinning strategy combined with a subsequent calcination process, followed by a solvothermal treatment. The solvothermally treated mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance on CO2 reduction into hydrocarbon fuels. The significantly improved photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the enhanced CO2 adsorption capacity and the improved charge separation after solvothermal treatment. The highest activity is achieved for the sample with a 2-h solvothermal treatment, showing 6- and 25-fold higher CH4 production rate than those of TiO2 nanofibers without solvothermal treatment and P25, respectively. This work may also provide a prototype for studying the effect of solvothermal treatment on the structure and photocatalytic activity of semiconductor photocatalysts.

High performance sol–gel spin-coated titanium dioxide dielectric based MOS structures

“…This concludes that the defect concentration with Ti 3 þ is extremely low. The difference of 5.79 eV between the peaks indicates the presence of titanium in its tetravalent state [23,24]. The binding energy of Ti core levels remained constant up to the thermal treatment at 800°C, and shifted to lower energy side of $ 467.8 and 457.8 eV respectively, at a higher temperature (1000°C).…”

Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added and renewable fuels

“…Yu and co-workers have prepared mesoporous TiO 2 nanofibers with high specific surface areas and abundant surface hydroxyl groups by using an electrospinning strategy combined with a subsequent calcination process, followed by a solvothermal treatment [98]. The solvothermally treated mesoporous TiO 2 nanofibers exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance on CO 2 reduction into hydrocarbon fuels, where the optimized 2-h solvothermal treatment sample shows 6-and 25-fold higher CH 4 production rate than those of TiO 2 nanofibers without solvothermal treatment and P25, respectively, due to the enhanced CO 2 adsorption capacity and the improved charge separation after solvothermal treatment.…”

Design and fabrication of semiconductor photocatalyst for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to solar fuel

“…TiO 2 nanotubes [63,97,[186][187][188][189][190][191], nanofibers [192] and nanorods [168,169,193] exhibited a much better photocatalytic activity for CO 2 reduction than P25 or TiO 2 NPs. For instance, Fu et al [192] demonstrated that the TiO 2 nanofibers with a 2-h solvothermal treatment exhibited the highest activity for photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to CH 4 , which was about 6 and 25 times higher than those of TiO 2 nanofibers without solvothermal treatment and P25, respectively, due to the enhanced CO 2 adsorption capacity and the improved charge separation. Moreover, NaNbO 3 nanowires [194], Zn 2 GeO 4 nanoribbons [195] and nanorods [196] synthesized using a hydrothermal/solvothermal route showed much better photocatalytic activity for the conversion of CO 2 to CO or CH 4 than the corresponding samples prepared by a high-temperature solid state reaction.…”