Nano-size effects on CuO/TiO2 catalysts for highly efficient H2 production under solar light irradiation

Abstract

Solar light induced interfacial charge transfer of electrons from TiO2 to CuO in a water-glycerol mixture produced 99,823 μmol h(-1) g(-1)catalyst of hydrogen gas. The dispersed CuO/TiO2 photocatalyst in solution exhibited uni-directional electron flow and capture at the Schottky barrier facilitating charge separation and electron transfer resulting in enhanced H2 production performance.

Recent Progress in the Development of Semiconductor‐Based Photocatalyst Materials for Applications in Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Degradation of Pollutants

“…Among them, anatase displays better photocatalytic activity . Since TiO 2 was initially employed as a photocatalyst, hundreds of oxynitride, sulfides, and oxides, such as SnS 2 , ZnO, BiVO 4 , SnO 2 , ZnS, BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I), AgP 3 O 4 , Bi 2 MO 6 (M = W, Mo), H 2 WO 4 , BiPO 4 , ATaO 3 and ANbO 3 (A = Li, Na, and K), ZnSnO 3 , RuO 2 , IrO 2 , LiNbO 3 , Ag 3 PO 4 , AMWO 6 (A = Rb, Cs; M = Nb, Ta), AgMO 2 (M = Al, Ga, In), ZrO 2 , CoS, NiS, NiS 2 , CuS, MoS 2 , MoS 3 , WS 2 , AgTaO 3 , GaN, graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ), Ge 3 N 4 , Sm 2 Ti 2 S 2 O 5 , Ta 3 N 5 , TaON, Fe 3 O 4 , metal chalcogenides, SrTiO 3 , NiO, CuO, SrNb 2 O 6 , Sr 2 M 2 O 7 (M = Nb and Ta), Bi 12 TiO 20 , NaNbO 3 , AgBr, SbMO 4 (M = Nb, Ta), Bi 24 Al 2 O, and others have been utilized as a photocatalyst in water purification applications.…”

Ionic‐Liquid‐Functionalized Copper Oxide Nanorods for Photocatalytic Splitting of Water

“…The Cu−TiO 2 , Cu 2 O−TiO 2 , and CuO−TiO 2 nanocomposites exhibit excellent light‐absorption abilities and show higher hydrogen generation rates than those of noble‐metal‐loaded TiO 2 . The higher photocatalytic activities of these nanocomposites were deduced from the collective effect of reduced structural defects, high surface area, and favorable charge transfer (which inhibits recombination) . The bare CuO nanomaterials absorb visible light efficiently.…”

“…[12,13] The CuÀTiO 2 ,C u 2 OÀTiO 2 ,a nd CuOÀTiO 2 nanocompositese xhibit excellent light-absorption abilities and show higher hydrogen generation rates than those of noble-metalloaded TiO 2 .T he higher photocatalytic activities of these nanocomposites were deduced from the collective effect of reduced structurald efects, high surfacea rea, and favorable charge transfer (which inhibits recombination). [14][15][16][17][18] The bare CuO nanomaterials absorb visible light efficiently.H owever,t he fast recombination of electrons and holes, owing to an arrow band gap, inhibits their potential for photocatalytic splitting of water. [19][20] Recently,B arrecae tal.…”

Light to Hydrogen: Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation from Water with Molecularly-Defined Iron Complexes

“…Besides, molecularly-defined copper compounds showed a significant ability to act as catalysts for electrochemical water reduction [126] and oxidation [127][128][129][130] and CO2 reduction [131]. In addition, heterogeneous cupric and cuprous oxides have been used as co-catalysts, mainly supported on titania [132][133][134][135][136], or as light-harvesting semiconductors [137][138][139] Scheme 3. Photosensitizers (PS) applied in iron-based water reduction systems with the WRCs depicted in Scheme 2.…”

“…Besides, molecularly-defined copper compounds showed a significant ability to act as catalysts for electrochemical water reduction [126] and oxidation [127][128][129][130] and CO 2 reduction [131]. In addition, heterogeneous cupric and cuprous oxides have been used as co-catalysts, mainly supported on titania [132][133][134][135][136], or as light-harvesting semiconductors [137][138][139] for water reduction. Although a variety of homo-and hetero-leptic Cu complexes have been developed [121,125,[140][141][142][143][144][145][146], only recently, two different examples of its successful application as photosensitizers in efficient noble metal-free photocatalytic systems for proton reduction have been reported (Scheme 3) [144,145,147].…”