Facile Adsorption-Dry Process to Incorporate Cu Into TiO<SUB>2</SUB> Nanotube for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Cu species was introduced into TiO2 nanotube prepared by hydrothermal method via a facile adsorption-dry process. The fabricated sample exhibited excellent H2 generation activity (76.3 mmol h(-1) g(-1)(catalyst)), which was higher than most of the reported Cu incorporated TiO2 samples, even superior to some Pt/Pd/Au/Ni incorporated TiO2. Compared to wet impregnation and in-situ photo-deposition methods, the facile adsorption-dry process was much simpler but more efficient to introduce Cu species into TiO2 for H2 production. To fully understand the adsorption-dry process, characterizations of the samples were carried out by high-resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, BET surface area analysis, UV-visible spectrophotometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the facile adsorption-dry process could well maintain the morphology of TiO2 support, for instance, 1-D tubular structure and large BET surface area of TiO2 nanotube; moreover, the introduced Cu species was highly dispersed and intensively bonded with TiO2. All of these contributed to the high H2 generation activity.

A study on the performance of self-cleaning oil–water separation membrane formed by various TiO2 nanostructures

“…Figure 1 depicts the representative FESEM images of TiO 2 nanotube, TiO 2 nanowire and nanosheet-decorated TiO 2 nanowire (TSW) respectively. Figure 1a and b show the assynthesised TiO 2 nanotubes which is similar to our previous studies, the nanotube structures agglomerate easily and form a cluster of micro-sized aggregates [33,35,36]. As a result, the morphology of the individual nanotube cannot be detected easily.…”

“…TiO 2 nanotube was produced through a hydrothermal process that was previously reported [33]. First, a mixture was prepared by adding 3 g of P25 into 100 mL of 10 M NaOH aqueous solution and was stirred for 6 h. Thereafter, the mixture was loaded into a 125 mL Teflon-lined stainless-steel autoclave where it underwent a heating process at 150 o C for 48 h.…”

Photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic levofloxacin using highly crystalline TiO2 nanoparticles

“…However, due to the excretion of these drugs and their metabolites by humans and animals, they ultimately accumulate in waste water. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The presence of such pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is of global concern, as their long term presence can affect aquatic organisms even in low concentrations and increase the population of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in waste water. [15][16][17] Levofloxacin (LEVO) i.e.…”

Superhydrophilic TiO2 nanomaterials for efficient oil-water separation

“…A study on the performance of self-cleaning oil/water separation membrane formed by various Ti02 nanostructures (This Chapter is reprinted with permission from Tan, Benny Yong Liang., Ta;, Ming Hang., Juay, Jermyn., Liu, Zhaoyang., & Sun, Delai Darren. (2015) Xu, Ng, Zhang, Bai, & Sun, 2011;Xu & Sun, 2013). As a result, the morphology of the individual nanotube cannot be detected easily.…”