The typical platinum nanoparticles loaded on titania (Pt/TiO2) were pretreated with mild oxidation (<300 °C) in pure oxygen to enhance the low-temperature formaldehyde (HCHO) decomposition performance. The structural properties of support and platinum nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), physical adsorption/desorption, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFITS), and temperature-programmed reduction and oxidation (TPR and TPO). The catalytic results showed that the low temperature HCHO decomposition activity of mild pre-oxidized Pt/TiO2 was around three times that of the pristine one. According to the characterization results, the structure of the Pt/TiO2 support and their Pt particle sizes had negligible change after pre-oxidation treatment. The cationic Pt content of Pt/TiO2 and surface roughness of Pt nanoparticles gradually increased with the increasing temperature of the pre-oxidation treatment. Mild pre-oxidation treatment was beneficial to the oxygen activation and water dissociation of Pt/TiO2. In situ HCHO-DFIRTS results showed that the mild pre-oxidation treatment could enhance the dehydrogenation of formate.
A mesoporous MoO 3 /TiO 2 composite was prepared from titanate derivative by consecutive self-supporting and ammonia method. All samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, N 2 adsorption-desorption, Raman Spectra and Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results showed that mesoporous MoO 3 / TiO 2 composite had a higher surface area (173 m 2 /g) and a better MoO 3 dispersion than that prepared by traditional impregnation (90 m 2 /g). As for hydrodesulfurization tests, mesoporous MoO 3 /TiO 2 composite in this case presented a better catalytic performance, attributed to its high surface area and good dispersion of MoO 3 . It can be found that self-supporting played a key role in preparing mesoporous MoO 3 /TiO 2 composite with high surface area. Additionally, aqueous ammonia could effectively dissolve excess MoO 3 , which helped to obtain mesoporous MoO 3 /TiO 2 composite with better dispersion of MoO 3 .
Developing non-noble metal photocatalysts for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is crucial for exploiting renewable energy. In this study, a photocatalyst of Ni2P/CdS nanorods consisting of cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods (NRs) decorated with Ni2P nanoparticles (NPs) was fabricated using an in-situ solvothermal method with red phosphor (P) as the P source. Ni2P NPs were tightly anchored on the surface of CdS NRs to form a core-shell structure with a well-defined heterointerface, aiming to achieve a highly efficient photocatalytic H2 generation. The as-synthesized 2%Ni2P/CdS NRs photocatalyst exhibited the significantly improved photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 260.2 μmol∙h−1, more than 20 folds higher than that of bare CdS NRs. Moreover, the as-synthesized 2%Ni2P/CdS NRs photocatalyst demonstrated an excellent stability, even better than that of Pt/CdS NRs. The photocatalytic performance enhancement was ascribed to the core-shell structure with the interfacial Schottky junction between Ni2P NPs and CdS NRs and the accompanying fast and effective photogenerated charge carriers’ separation and transfer. This work provides a new strategy for designing non-noble metal photocatalysts to replace the noble catalysts for photocatalytic water splitting.
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