SPR effect of Au nanoparticles on the visible photocatalytic RhB degradation and NO oxidation over TiO2 hollow nanoboxes

Three-dimensional (3D) TiO₂ hollow structures have attracted much attention due to their unique properties. However, the large bandgap of (3.2 eV) results in the fact that anatase TiO₂ photocatalyst can only be excited by UV light, which only accounts for 3–5% of the solar energy. On considering that nobel metallatic nanomaterials can harvest visible light due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, in this paper, three kinds of Au nanoparticles with different morphologies, namely Au nanospheres (Au-NSs), Au nanorods (Au-NRs) and Au nanopentogons (Au-NPs) were prepared and used as photosensitizers to modified TiO₂ hollow nanoboxes (TiO₂-HNBs), aiming to explore high efficient visible-light-responsive photocatalyst. The photoreacitivty of Au/TiO₂-HNBs was evaluated by photoctalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and NO under visible irradiation (λ > 420 nm). It was found that the visible photoreactivity of TiO₂-HNBs was greatly enhanced after modified with Au nanoparticles, and TiO₂-HNBs loaded with Au-NRs exhibit the highest visible photocatalytic activity towards both RhB degradation and NO oxidation. Upon visible irradiation, SPR effect induces the production of hot electrons from the Au nanoparticles, which can further transfer to the conduction band of TiO₂-HNBs to produce superoxide radicals (O₂⁻), resulting in an efficient separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. The photoreactivity of Au-NRs/TiO₂-HNBs towards RhB degradation almost keeps unchanged even after recycling used for 5 times, indicating that it is promising to be use in practical applications.     

金纳米棒的表面改性及与H_2O_2的作用

通过调控过氧化氢与金纳米棒相互作用时溶液的H~+和Br~-浓度,考察了过氧化氢刻蚀金纳米棒的条件.通过静电相互作用将聚苯乙烯磺酸钠修饰到带正电的金纳米棒表面,并探讨了表面配体变化对过氧化氢与金纳米棒相互作用的影响,比较了聚苯乙烯磺酸钠浓度改变对过氧化氢刻蚀金纳米棒所引起的等离子体吸收峰的变化.结果表明,过氧化氢与金纳米棒作用过程中,H~+浓度增加可以加快刻蚀反应速率,Br~-起到稳定金离子的作用.采用聚苯乙烯磺酸钠修饰抑制了过氧化氢对金纳米棒的刻蚀,当聚苯乙烯磺酸钠与金纳米棒表面的CTAB完全作用后,复合材料电位接近零,金纳米棒的稳定性降低,继续增加聚苯乙烯磺酸钠的量至电位为负,复合材料稳定性增加.     

氮自掺杂暴露（001）晶面TiO2微米片的可见光光催化CO2还原性能增强

化石能源的使用可产生大量CO2,带来严重的温室效应。光催化CO2还原生产太阳燃料技术既有望缓解温室效应,又可以将低能量密度的太阳能转化为高能量密度的化学能储存起来方便使用。高效光催化材料的开发是发展光催化技术的关键。迄今,在已开发的所有半导体光催化材料中, TiO2仍是广泛研究的明星材料。在实际使用中, TiO2的光催化效率仍受限于其极弱的可见光利用率和较高的电子-空穴复合几率。近年来,越来越多的研究表明TiO2的结构与形貌特征极大地影响其光催化效率。尤其, TiO2的外露晶面设计与晶面效应研究引起了广泛关注。由于具有较高表面能和较多表面不饱和键,起初大多数理论和实验研究认为锐钛矿TiO2(001)晶面是光催化活性晶面。后来,越来越多研究表明并非锐钛矿TiO2(001)晶面的暴露比例越高其光催化活性就越高。最近,我们发现锐钛矿TiO2(001)晶面与(101)晶面在调控光催化CO2还原性能上具有良好的协同效应。密度泛函理论计算表明,锐钛矿TiO2的(001)晶面与(101)晶面的能带结构有差异,(001)晶面的导带位置相对于(101)晶面而言较高,而(101)晶面的价带位置相对于(001)晶面而言较低。基于此我们提出,具有合适比例的锐钛矿TiO2的(001)晶面与(101)晶面的交界处可以形成最佳的表面异质结或晶面异质结。表面异质结的形成导致光生电子倾向于向(101)扩散,光生空穴倾向于向(001)扩散,从而促进光生电子-空穴分离,降低光生电子-空穴复合几率。在此工作基础上,我们直接以氮化钛为原料,氢氟酸为添加剂,通过简单的水热反应一步合成了氮自掺杂的TiO2微米片。利用X射线粉末衍射、扫描电镜、X射线光电子能谱、紫外-可见漫反射光谱、氮气吸附-脱附以及电化学阻抗谱等方法手段对所制备的光催化剂进行了基本结构与理化性质表征分析,并研究了其可见光光催化CO2还原性能。电镜照片结果表明,我们所制备的氮自掺杂锐钛矿TiO2微米片的(001)晶面与(101)晶面比例分别为65%和35%。基于我们前期研究结果, TiO2微米片的(001)晶面与(101)晶面可以形成表面异质结,具有良好的电荷分离效率,这也得到了电化学阻抗谱研究结果的证明。同时,由于N的原位掺杂,所制备的TiO2微米片具有优异的可见光捕获能力。由于可见光利用效率增强与光生电子-空穴分离效率提高这两方面的综合作用,所制备的氮自掺杂TiO2微米片具有非常好的可见光光催化CO2还原制甲醇性能,比商用P25及氮掺杂TiO2纳米粒子等参考样品的可见光光催化性能更优异。研究表明,通过原位自掺杂方法与晶面设计方法相结合,可以同时改善TiO2的可见光利用效率和光生电子-空穴分离效率,优化TiO2的可见光光催化性能,这也为后续开发新型高效光催化材料提供了新思路。     

Hydrothermal synthesis of TiO2 nanorods: formation chemistry,growth mechanism,and tailoring of surface properties for photocatalytic activities

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is one of the best semiconductor photocatalysts with optical band gap of 3.2 eV. The optical band gap and photocatalytic properties could be further tuned by tailoring shape, size, composition, and morphology of the nanostructures. Hydrothermal synthesis methods have been applied to produce well-controlled nanostructured TiO₂ materials with different morphologies and improved optoelectronic properties. Among various morphologies, one-dimensional (1D) TiO₂ nanostructures are of great importance in the field of energy, environmental, and biomedical because of the directional transmission properties resulting from their 1D geometry. Particularly, TiO₂ nanorods (NRs) have gained special attention because of their densely packed structure, quantum confinement effect, high aspect ratio, and large specific surface area that could specially improve the directional charge transmission efficiency. This results in the effective photogenerated charge separation and light absorption, which are really important for potential applications of TiO₂-based materials for photocatalytic and other important applications. In this review, hydrothermal syntheses of TiO₂ NRs including the formation chemistry and the growth mechanism of NRs under different chemical environments and effects of various synthesis parameters (pH, reaction temperature, reaction time, precursors, solvents etc.) on morphology and optoelectronic properties have been discussed. Recent developments in the hydrothermal synthesis of TiO₂ NRs and tailoring of their surface properties through various modification strategies such as defect creation, doping, sensitization, surface coating, and heterojunction formation with various functional nanomaterials (plasmonic, oxide, quantum dots, graphene-based nanomaterials, etc.) have been reported to improve the photocatalytic activities. Furthermore, applications of TiO₂ NRs/tailored TiO₂ NRs as superior photocatalysts in degradation of organic pollutants and bacterial disinfection have been discussed with emphasis on mechanisms of action and recent advances in the fields.     

Effect of TiO2 content on the microstructure and antibacterial activity of TiO2‐loaded activated carbon fibers derived from liquefied wood

In this study, activated carbon fibers derived from liquefied wood (WACF) were as a carrier to support TiO₂. The weight of TiO₂ coating on TiO₂‐loaded WACF (TiO₂/WACF) was designed as a variable to explore their effect on the microstructure and antibacterial activity of TiO₂/WACF. The results showed that the crystal structure, surface chemical structure, pore structure, and antibacterial activity of TiO₂/WACF had a high affinity for the TiO₂ content. The increasing TiO₂ content (from 0.40 to 3.50 g/g) enlarged the average crystal size of TiO₂/WACF, whereas their O―H group quantity, specific surface area, and pore volume had a reverse trend. The TiO₂/WACF with 0.85 g/g TiO₂ showed the strongest antibacterial activity because of their synergies between photocatalytic activity and adsorption capacity. This study on TiO₂/WACF could improve their antibacterial activity and extend the application fields of WACF. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of crystallinity, {001}/{101} ratio,and Au decoration on the photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 crystals

Anatase TiO₂ nanocrystals and sub-microcrystals with truncated octahedral bipyramidal morphologies were prepared by direct calcination of TiOF₂ precursors. The as-prepared TiO₂ samples were thoroughly characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-visible diffuse spectroscopy. It was found that the crystallinity, grain size, and {001}/{101} ratio of the samples can be increased by raising the calcination temperature from 500 to 800 °C. The higher crystallinity and {001}/{101} facet ratio resulted in an increase in both aqueous and gas-phase photocatalytic activities, by inhibiting the recombination and separation of electrons and holes. After selecting two TiO₂ samples with high crystallinity and {001}/{101} ratio, Au nanoparticles were decorated on their surfaces, and the photocatalytic activity of the resulting samples under visible light illumination was studied. It was found that the visible light-induced photocatalytic activity increased by 2.6 and 4.8 times, respectively, upon Au decoration of the samples prepared by calcination of TiOF₂ at 700 and 800 °C.