Netted C-Doped TiO₂ Mesoporous Nanostructure Decorated by Cu Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Abstract

Acquiring an anatase TiO 2 catalyst with tiny size and high crystallinity for excellent photocatalytic performance still remains a huge challenge. Herein, a mesoporous C-doped TiO 2 netted nanostructure is successfully synthesized by a vacuum dipping and calcination method, where the thin film of multiwalled carbon nanotubes is skillfully utilized as the confinement template to suppress the grain growth and phase transfer. In addition, small Cu nanoparticles are deposited on the surfaces of the TiO 2 by an electronic beam evaporation way. The obtained C−TiO 2 −Cu photocatalyst exhibits high CH 4 and CO production rates of 8.8 and 60.3 μmol/g/h, respectively, which are excellent among the TiO 2 -based photocatalysts. This high performance originates from the following synergistic effects. This good crystalline and small size can facilitate the charge separation, while this unique netted mesoporous structure will provide sufficient sites for the reaction. Moreover, the C doping can enhance light absorption and the plasmonic Cu can inject hot electrons into TiO 2 , which will increase the amounts of electrons and promote their transfer.

Noble-Metal-Free Ultrathin CdS–NiFeS 2D–2D Heterojunction Nanosheets for Significantly Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

“…Photocatalytic H 2 generation via water splitting which can convert abundant solar energy into clean hydrogen is considered one of the most prosperous ways to settle the urgent universal energy crisis and environmental problems. , Since the original research reported in 1972, there have been many studies surveying different kinds of semiconductor materials for the photocatalytic reaction. − Among those semiconductors, CdS has been demonstrated to possess great potential for photocatalytic energy conversion owing to its relatively narrow band gap (∼2.4 eV of bulk phase) and strong reduction ability (high-conduct band position). − However, bare bulk CdS suffers from a low photocatalytic performance because of its confined external active sites, fast recombination of photo-produced charge carriers resulting from long charge migration distance, and low light absorption ability. − …”