Cu Nanoparticles/Fluorine-Doped Tin Oxide (FTO) Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic H2 Evolution under Visible Light Irradiation

Abstract

Abstract:Copper nanoparticles/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse-reflectance spectrum (UV-VIS DRS), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained Cu/FTO nanocomposites exhibit high photocatalytic activity for H 2 evolution under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. When the content of Cu is 19.2 wt % for FTO, the Cu/FTO photocatalyst shows the highest photocatalytic activity and the photocatalytic H 2 evolution rate is up to 11.22 µmol·h −1 . Meanwhile, the photocatalyst exhibits excellent stability and repeatability. It is revealed that the transfer efficiency of the photogenerated electrons is improved greatly because of the intense interaction between Cu NPs and FTO. Furthermore, a possible mechanism is proposed for enhanced photocatalytic H 2 evolution of Cu/FTO photocatalysts under visible light irradiation.

Characteristics of Pd and Pt Nanoparticles Produced by Nanosecond Laser Irradiations of Thin Films Deposited on Topographically-Structured Transparent Conductive Oxides

“…Figure 12 displays, first of all, the Raman spectrum of the bare FTO/glass substrate, in black. There are two fundamental Raman scattering peaks which are those characteristic of rutile SnO2 single crystal [55]. For pure SnO2, the characteristic and intense band at 625 cm −1 is due to the A1g vibration mode of SnO2.…”

“…For pure SnO2, the characteristic and intense band at 625 cm −1 is due to the A1g vibration mode of SnO2. The weak band around 478 cm −1 is due to the Eg vibration modes of SnO2 [55]. Figure 12 reports, also, as examples of the general behaviour, Raman spectra of the FTO/glass substrate covered by Pd or Pt NPs originating from the laser heating of the deposited films: in red the spectrum of the substrate covered by Pd NPs obtained by the laser irradiations of the 27.9 nm-thick Pd film; in blue the spectrum of the substrate covered by Pd NPs obtained by the laser irradiations of the 17.6 nm-thick Pd film, in green the spectrum of the substrate covered by Pt NPs obtained by the laser irradiations of the 19.5 nm-thick Pt film.…”

Nanomaterials for Environmental Purification and Energy Conversion

“…It should be pointed that also other semiconductors have been used successfully for environmental applications, such as ZnO [36], graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) [37], WO 3 [10], BiVO 4 [38], and SrTiO 3 [39], and some of them exhibited higher activity than that of titania even under UV irradiation [40][41][42]. Accordingly, the photocatalytic activity of other semiconductors has also been discussed in this special issue, such as ZnCr 2 O 4 [23], TiOF 2 (modified with NaOH) [20], SnO 2 (fluorine-doped SnO 2 (FTO), surface modified with Cu NPs) [25], and rectorite/Fe 3 O 4 /ZnO [22]. Wang et al prepared rectorite/Fe 3 O 4 /ZnO composities with photocatalytic and magnetic properties enabling efficient photocatalyst separation after reaction [22].…”

Nanomaterials for Environmental Purification and Energy Conversion

“…It should be pointed that also other semiconductors have been used successfully for environmental applications, such as ZnO [36], graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) [37], WO 3 [10], BiVO 4 [38], and SrTiO 3 [39], and some of them exhibited higher activity than that of titania even under UV irradiation [40][41][42]. Accordingly, the photocatalytic activity of other semiconductors has also been discussed in this special issue, such as ZnCr 2 O 4 [23], TiOF 2 (modified with NaOH) [20], SnO 2 (fluorine-doped SnO 2 (FTO), surface modified with Cu NPs) [25], and rectorite/Fe 3 [23]. The photocatalyst was much more efficient for humic acid degradation than simple photolysis (7%), reaching 60% degradation after 3 h of UV irradiation.…”

“…Eleven papers present heterogeneous photocatalysis for efficient degradation of organic pollutants (phenol [17,18], 2-propanol [19], dyes [20][21][22], humic acid [23]), inactivation of microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis [24], Bacillus subtilis, and Clostridium sp. [18]), H 2 evolution [25], and CO 2 reduction [26,27]. Six other papers focus on conventional catalysis ("dark" reactions), reporting efficient H 2 production [28,29], synthesis of ethanol and butanol [30], direct conversion of CO 2 and methanol to dimethyl carbonate [31], water purification [32], and advanced characterization of catalysts by X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy [33].…”