Enhanced photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production activity of SrTiO3–TiO2 hetero-nanoparticle modified TiO2 nanotube arrays. (17th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Zhi; Su, Yufeng; Yu, Jiangdong; Xiao, Wang; Sun, Lan; Lin, Changjian
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 40:Number 31(2015)
• Page Start: 9704
• Page End: 9712
• Publication Date: 2015-08-17
• Subjects: Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.06.036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en" abstract-type="author" id="abs0010"> <title id="sectitle0010">Abstract</title> <sec> <p id="abspara0010">SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> hetero-nanoparticle modified TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays (ST–TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs) were constructed by following these steps: firstly, highly ordered TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays (TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs) were synthesized directly on Ti foils through electrochemical oxidation, then SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles were deposited on the TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs using two-step hydrothermal treatment. SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays (S–TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs) were also prepared by directly hydrothermal treatment of TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs for comparison. The photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production activities of all the samples were evaluated by using ethylene glycol as a sacrificial reagent in water under a 300 W xenon arc lamp. The photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production rate of TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs can be significantly improved by modifying SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> hetero-nanoparticles and achieved a greatly promoted value of 314.9 μmol cm<sup>−2</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> which was 2.1 times higher than that of the unmodified TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs. Compared to S–TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs, ST–TiO<sub>2</sub> NTAs showed a 32.8% increase in hydrogen production rate. Furthermore, SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> hetero-nanoparticle modified TiO<sub>2</sub> nanotube arrays exhibited excellent stability and was facile to be safely reused. The improvement of photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency is attributed to the difference of the conduction band potential between TiO<sub>2</sub> and SrTiO<sub>3</sub> in SrTiO<sub>3</sub>–TiO<sub>2</sub> hetero-nanoparticles, thereby boosting the transfer and separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs.</p> </sec> </abstract>