Facile preparation of C-modified TiO₂ supported on MCF for high visible-light-driven photocatalysis

Abstract

A green and facile approach is employed to prepare an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst by using mesocellular foams (MCF) as matrix, glucose as a carbon-modified source and TiO 2 as the catalytic active sites, which is denoted as C-modified TiO 2 /MCF. Characterization results reveal that nano-sized TiO 2 nanoparticles are loaded in the pore channels of MCF rather than aggregated on the surface of MCF. Furthermore, glucose is selectively covered on the surface of TiO 2 /MCF composites during the stirring process due to the excellent adsorption capacity of MCF, and then glucose can be transformed to the coke carbon through a hydrothermal process. In addition, a facile thermal treatment is adopted to enhance the visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 /MCF composites. It is believed that the post-thermal treatment plays a significant role in controlling the carbon diffusion from the surface to the bulk of TiO 2 . Compared to traditional C-TiO 2 photocatalyst, the prepared Cdoped catalyst exhibits a stable carbon doping in TiO 2 , more excellent adsorption capacity and higher visible light photocatalytic activity owing to the special structure of supported mesoporous catalyst. This study implies that the novel photocatalyst has a large application prospect in photocatalytic water splitting, dye-sensitized solar cell and other fields.

Hydrothermal etching fabrication of TiO2@graphene hollow structures: mutually independent exposed {001} and {101} facets nanocrystals and its synergistic photocaltalytic effects

“…Recently, enormous interesting is focus on the controlling crystal facets of titania-based photocatalysts due to its fascinating shape-dependent phystalcochemical properties, stable chemical and physical property, excellent photocatalytic performance 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 . It is well know that the average surface energies of anatase TiO 2 is 0.90 J m −2 for {001} > 0.53 J m −2 for {100} > 0.44 J m −2 for {101} facets, thus, most of synthetic and natural anatase TiO 2 is inclined to expose {101} facets rather than {001} facets due to higher thermodynamic stability of the former 12 .…”

Dopant-Induced Edge and Basal Plane Catalytic Sites on Ultrathin C3N4 Nanosheets for Photocatalytic Water Reduction

“…X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to investigate the chemical environment of elements in CN, O-CNS, and O, P-CNS. As shown in the C 1s spectrum (Figure c), peaks could be divided into four peaks at about 284.6, 286.5, and 288.0 eV, ascribed to the sp 3 -hybridized carbon (C–C), tertiary nitrogen (C) 3 -N groups and sp 2 -hybridized carbon in the aromatic rings (N–CN), respectively. − The N 1s spectrum in Figure d could be divided into three peaks at 398.5, 400.0, and 410.0 eV, corresponding to the sp 2 -hybridized nitrogen in C–NC, tertiary nitrogen N–(C) 3 groups, and C–N–H, respectively . Notably, the introduction of O atoms with strong electron-attracting ability as the substitution of a part of C atoms and N atoms resulted in the decrease of the electron density around both C and N atoms, further leading to the result that the binding energy of C 1s and N 1s showed a higher binding energy as compared to those of CN.…”

Emerging Cocatalysts on g‐C3N4 for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

“…[5,6] Inspired by this idea, photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is deemed as a green and low-energy process to manufacture H 2 on a large scale, which achieves the utmost out of solar energy. Since 1972, H 2 successful evolution on TiO 2 via photoelectrochemical water-splitting by Honda and Fujishima, [7] different semiconductors, including metal oxides, [8][9][10] metal sulfides, [11][12][13] complex metal semiconductors, [14,15] and metal-free semiconductors, [16,17] have been investigated in water splitting. In general, upon the irradiation of solar light, electrons and holes inside semiconductors are motivated, and a part of the excited electrons migrate to the surface and subsequently take part in HER.…”