TiO2/Cu2O Core/Ultrathin Shell Nanorods as Efficient and Stable Photocatalysts for Water Reduction |
| |
| Authors: | Dr Yuanxu Liu Prof?Dr Bingsen Zhang Liangfeng Luo Xuanye Chen Zhonglei Wang Erlong Wu Prof?Dr Dangsheng Su Prof?Dr Weixin Huang |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026 (P.R. China);2. Catalysis and Materials Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (P.R. China);3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (P.R. China) |
| |
| Abstract: | P‐type Cu2O has been long considered as an attractive photocatalyst for photocatalytic water reduction, but few successful examples has been reported. Here, we report the synthesis of TiO2 (core)/Cu2O (ultrathin film shell) nanorods by a redox reaction between Cu2+ and in‐situ generated Ti3+ when Cu2+‐exchanged H‐titanate nanotubes are calcined in air. Owing to the strong TiO2‐Cu2O interfacial interaction, TiO2 (core)/Cu2O (ultrathin film shell) nanorods are highly active and stable in photocatalytic water reduction. The TiO2 core and Cu2O ultrathin film shell respectively act as the photosensitizer and cocatalyst, and both the photoexcited electrons in the conduction band and the holes in the valence band of TiO2 respectively transfer to the conduction band and valence band of the Cu2O ultrathin film shell. Our results unambiguously show that Cu2O itself can act as the highly active and stable cocatalyst for photocatalytic water reduction. |
| |
| Keywords: | core‐shell structures Cu2O thin films interfaces photocatalysis redox reaction |
|
|
