Preparation and photocatalytic activity of strontium titanate nanocube-dispersed mesoporous silica

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide by strontium titanate nanocube-dispersed mesoporous silica

“…The characterization results of STO(NC)-MPS discussed above confirmed that the nanocubes were surrounded by mesoporous silica entities within the structure of the nanocomposite rather than being located in the mesopores as the STO nanocubes (i.e., 10 nm) were considerably larger than the mesopores (i.e., 2.9 nm). Such configuration is consistent with the nanostructure previously reported [5,[13][14][15]. It should be noted here that the nanocubes maintained their structure even after the calcination process at the temperature as high as 1073 K. It was confirmed that calcination of STO nanocubes resulted in crystal growth to give large crystallites.…”

“…It should be noted here that the nanocubes maintained their structure even after the calcination process at the temperature as high as 1073 K. It was confirmed that calcination of STO nanocubes resulted in crystal growth to give large crystallites. The high stability of STO nanocubes in the composite structure was attributed to the role of mesoporous silica as the matlix [5].…”

“…A nanocomposite of SrTiO 3 nanocube-dispersed mesoporous silica was prepared as follows [5]: oleate-modified SrTiO 3 nanocubes were dispersed in tetrahydrofuran at a concentration of 250 mg mL −1 . The dispersion was then injected into an aqueous solution of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (60 mmol L −1 ; 23 mL), and the pH of the mixture was adjusted to 11.8 with ammonia water.…”

“…They are expected to have large surface areas because of their small size and to expose particular crystal planes. Accordingly, nanocrystals are expected to find promising application in various fields including heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis [1,4,5].…”

“…We have previously reported that the composite material constituting strontium titanate nanocubes and mesoporous silica show promising performance as a photocatalyst [5]. The individual nanocubes are separated by mesoporous silica moiety, thereby inhibiting the sintering and fusion of the nanocubes and consequently promoting their stability at high calcination temperatures.…”