Mesoporous Ag@TiO₂ nanofibers and their photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is a promising solution to energy and environmental problems. The grand challenge for its application is how to make photocatalysts with satisfactory efficiency. In the present work, exploration of Ag@TiO 2 mesoporous nanofibers via two strategies is reported, namely in situ electrospinning preparation (strategy I) and electrospinning combined with subsequent photodeposition (strategy II). The photocatalytic behavior of the as-synthesized Ag@TiO 2 hybrid nanofibers was evaluated in terms of hydrogen evolution efficiency for the photodecomposition of water under Xe lamp irradiation. It was found that incorporation of Ag nanoparticles into the TiO 2 mesoporous nanofibers could enhance remarkably their photocatalytic efficiency. The products prepared through strategy I exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance as compared with those prepared by strategy II. Current work might give some insight into exploration of stable binary photocatalysts, which have potential applications for efficient hydrogen evolution.

Mesoporous Titanium Dioxide: Synthesis and Applications in Photocatalysis, Energy and Biology

“…have been extensively studied for solar water splitting, and the presence of these nanoparticles can improve the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO 2 . For example, Shang et al synthesized Ag@TiO 2 mesoporous nanofibers for the photodecomposition of water [ 91 ]. The results indicated that incorporation of Ag nanoparticles into mesoporous anatase TiO 2 nanofibers significantly improved their photocatalytic efficiency.…”

Template Based Synthesis of Plasmonic Ag‐modified TiO2/SnO2 Nanotubes with Enhanced Photostability for Efficient Visible‐Light Photocatalytic H2 Evolution and RhB Degradation

“…In another work, Saravanan et al [62] synthesized Ag/TiO 2 photocatalysts through a two-step, sol-gel and mechanothermal with 910 μmol.h À 1 .g À 1 hydrogen production from water splitting under visible light. Shang et al [63] evaluated the photocatalytic behavior of the assynthesized Ag@TiO 2 hybrid nanofibers in terms of hydrogen evolution efficiency for the photodecomposition of water under Xe lamp irradiation. They found that incorporation of Ag nanoparticles into the TiO 2 mesoporous nanofibers could enhance remarkably their photocatalytic efficiency to 531.9 μmol.h À 1 .g À 1 .…”

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by novel Nb-doped SnO2/V2O5 heteronanostructures under visible light with simultaneous basic red 46 dye degradation

“…On the other hand, the mineralization rate of BR46 after 90 min under visible-light irradiation is found to be significantly lower than the degradation rate of BR46 in the same period. This might be due to the formation of reaction byproducts and their Based on what was observed and discussed above, the enhanced photodegradation activity of products can be attributed to several synergetic effects: i) tailoring the geometry of one-dimensional (1D) SnO 2 nanotubes can increase surface reaction sites and facilitate interparticle charge transfer, leading to improved photocatalytic reactions [45]. ii) Coupling with a small band gap semiconductor material V 2 O 5 , the visible-light absorption capability of the SnO 2 /V 2 O 5 nanocomposite is much enhanced compared with SnO 2 nanotubes.…”