Pt‐Decorated g‐C₃N₄/TiO₂ Nanotube Arrays with Enhanced Visible‐Light Photocatalytic Activity for H₂ Evolution

Abstract

Aligned TiO2 nanotube layers (TiNTs) grown by self‐organizing anodization of a Ti‐substrate in a fluoride‐based electrolyte were decorated with graphitic‐phase C3N4 (g‐C3N4) via a facile chemical vapor deposition approach. In comparison with classical TiO2 nanotubes (anatase), the g‐C3N4/TiNTs show an onset of the photocurrent at 2.4 eV (vs. 3.2 eV for anatase) with a considerably high photocurrent magnitude in the visible range. After further decoration with Pt nanoparticles, we obtained a visible‐light responsive platform that showed, compared with g‐C3N4‐free TiNTs, a strong enhancement for photoelectrochemical and bias‐free H2 evolution (15.62 μLh−1 cm−2), which was almost a 98‐fold increase in the H2 production rate of TiNTs (0.16 μLh−1 cm−2). In a wider context, the g‐C3N4‐combined 3 D nanoporous/nanotubular structure thus provides a platform with significant visible‐light response in photocatalytic applications.

Dye-sensitized photocatalyst for effective water splitting catalyst

“…TiO 2 nanotubes facilitated charge separation in the orthogonal array shown in Figure 9 . The combination of C 3 N 4 and TiO 2 nanotubes increased the hydrogen production rate to 15.62 μL/h cm 2 , whereas the hydrogen production rate for the device containing only TiO 2 nanotubes was 0.16 μL/h cm 2 (Figure 9 ) [ 115 ].…”

Modified Hydrothermal Route for Synthesis of Photoactive Anatase TiO2/g-CN Nanotubes from Sludge Generated TiO2

“…A broad range of TiO 2 morphologies has been explored in the current literature to improve the use of photocatalysts as suspension or photoelectrodes. Subsequently, one of the most frequently explored morphologies is aligned TiO 2 nanotubes (TNTs) [18][19][20]. The significant focus on TNTs could be attributed to their improved reactivity and desirable structural geometry.…”

“…The significant focus on TNTs could be attributed to their improved reactivity and desirable structural geometry. Specifically, the photoconversion productivities of nanotubular arrays of TiO 2 have been found to be particularly high because of the orthogonal carrier separation and the high charge transfer rate [19]. A simple TNT synthesis process was proposed by Kasuga, et al [21] through the hydrothermal treatment of titania nanoparticles in an NaOH-based aqueous solution and reported the formation of nanotubes with an effective surface area of 400 m 2 /g having a diameter of 8 nm.…”

Selectively UV-Blocking and Visibly Transparent Adhesive Films Embedded with TiO2/PMMA Hybrid Nanoparticles for Displays

“…The organic nanoshell structure of the hybrid nanoparticle can improve the low dispersibility of inorganic TiO 2 nanoparticles in the organic polymer matrix, due to its high compatibility with acrylic matrix polymers in the OCA film [ 16 ], thereby facilitating the high visible light transmittance of the film. In addition, as the TiO 2 material has a band gap of 3.0–3.2 eV in the UVA area, it can absorb and scatter UV light, and thus protect the inner organic components of the display [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Moreover, the highly refractive TiO 2 nanocore with a refractive index (n) of 2.6 can selectively scatter UV rays in low-refractive index acrylic polymers (n = 1.5), leading to the enhanced UV protection performance of the adhesive film [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”