The interlayer space of &.~Fe0.8Ti~,20~ was expanded by Si02-pillaring. The length of the interlayer spacing and surface area were increased by pillaring from 0.78 to 1.98 nm and from 0.4 to 154 m2-g-', respectively. N2 adsorption on the Si02-pillared &.~Feo.~Ti1.204 was studied by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Two types of adsorbed N2 were observed at 2330 and 2350 cm-I. The former showed ordinary adsorption on oxides (AHH, = ca. 1 kcal/mol) and the latter indicated activated adsorption (AHa = ca. 6 kcal/mol), where migration into the pillared interlayers is considered to be the rate-determining step.
IntroductionLayered niobates and titanates have been reported to be effective photocatalysts including photodecomposition of H20 into H2 and 02.'-3 However, band gaps of those compounds are only adequate for the use of ultraviolet light and are not capable for utilizing visible light. Recently, attempts were made to take other elements into the niobate layers in order to prepare a photocatalyst that absorbs light in the visible regione4 Another breakthrough to construct more efficient photocatalysts is to further modify their interlayers. Generally, the high efficiency of the layered compounds compared with that of bulk-type photocatalysts arise by direct transfer of holes and electrons excited in layers by irradiation to intercalated reactant mole c u l e~. ' .~,~ However, intercalation of water is undertaken by hydration of layers and the amount of intercalated water is limited. This problem seems to be solved if interlayers of a layered compound are widened by pillaring inorganic oxides.ss6Characterization of catalysts by means of IR spectroscopies on various probing molecules is now a common technique. Among them, pyridine and ammonia are especially well suited for monitoring acidities of catalysts such as zeolite^.^^^ Recently, the advantage of employing small molecules in a characterization of surface sites of solid catalysts has been demonstrated. N2 was used for probing both Lewis and Bronsted acid sites of zeolites9 The molecule is small enough to probe micropores and its weak basicity neglects well weak acid sites. Adsorption of H2 has been also studied for probing coordination-unsaturated surface sites of Zn0,'O Zr02," and others.'* The IR-inactive feature of N2 and H2 in the gas phase enabled observation of adsorbed species at relatively high pressure because they become observable as a result of interaction with solid surfaces.In this study, one of the candidates for visible light-responsive layered photocatalysts, b.~Feo.~Ti1.204, was prepared and its interlayers were pillared by Si02. Characterization of the produced catalyst was performed by IR spectroscopy of N2 adsorption.
Experimental SectionA previously reported preparation method of Kx(MxTi2-x)04, where M represents a transition metal at 0.70 5 x 5 0.90, from ' Fax: 81-45-924-5276. @ Abstract published in Advance ACS Abstracts, October 1, 1995.K2CO3, TiO2, and a corresponding metal oxide13 was employed for production of Ko.sFeo.sTi1.204. Briefly,...