Simultaneous Control over Lattice Doping and Nanocluster Modification of a Hybrid CuO_x/TiO₂ Photocatalyst during Flame Synthesis for Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution (Solar RRL 12∕2018)

Abstract

In article no. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/solr.201800215, Zuwei Xu, Haibo Zhao, and co‐workers discuss flame spray pyrolysis technology, which they believe paves a way for the large‐scale production of highly efficient photocatalysts for sunlight‐driven water splitting hydrogen evolution.

Photothermocatalytic Removal of CO and Formaldehyde with Excellent Water Vapor Stability over Dual‐Functional Copper Loading on TiO2 Synthesized via Flame Spray Pyrolysis

“…The U values of GGA þ U approach was 5.0 eV for Cu and 3.2 for Ti, respectively. [11,43] In Figure S2a, Supporting Information, the lattice parameters (a ¼ b ¼ 3.795 and c ¼ 9.716 Å) of the optimized anatase TiO 2 cell were in fine agreement with experimental data (a ¼ 3.785, b ¼ 3.782, c ¼ 9.502 Å) and previous computed results. [44] A 12-layer anatase TiO 2 (101) slab model was built with a 15 Å vacuum space, as shown in Figure S2b, Supporting Information.…”

“…The PL peaks around 430 nm stand for band-edge photoexcitons at shallow defect energy levels, significantly improving the immigration of electronÀhole pairs. [11] Thus, the photoinduced electrons (e À ) of CuO x ÀTiO 2 nanoparticles can reduce oxygen to produce active oxygen (•O 2 À ). In addition, the photoinduced holes (h þ ) can oxidize the surface water or hydroxyl group and CO to generate hydroxyl radical (•OH) and more active CO (CO þ ).…”

“…[10] In addition, copper oxides also possess narrow bandgap (1.4 eV in CuO and 2.2 eV in Cu 2 O) and thus exhibit remarkable photocatalytic activity. [11] Hence, the PTC activity of CuO mesoporous nanosheets for CO abatement is immensely improved by 19.8 times in comparison with the commercial CuO nanosheets, being attributed to the significant enhancement of the lattice oxygen activity. [12] Furthermore, the varieties of metal oxide supports are always introduced to enhance the stability and activity of the pure copper-based catalysts.…”

“…[14] Especially, the interaction between supported CuO and TiO 2 can not only generate the highly dispersed active species, but also decrease electronÀhole recombination rate. [11,15] Compared with the production of copper-based catalysts by traditional methods such as solÀgel, impregnation, and hydrothermal approaches, the flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) technology is a fast, economical, and scalable route to produce nanoparticles. [16] The FSP method can allow the one-step synthesis of nanocatalysts with controllable support and composition properties, due to a wide range of precursor types.…”

MoS2 Quantum Dots Modified Black Ti3+–TiO2/g‐C3N4 Hollow Nanosphere Heterojunction toward Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Enhancement

“…In the past decades, a series of materials have achieved super‐duper photocatalytic hydrogen production, such as CdS, ZnO, CeO 2 , and CaTiO 3. Especially, the semiconductor TiO 2 , which can be easily prepared, has good structure stability, and is nonpoisonous, has always been the focus of current research.…”