Vertically aligned TiO2/SrTiO3 core–shell heterostructured nanowire arrays with different shell thicknesses(5–40 nm)were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a hydrothermal process.Microstructural ch...Vertically aligned TiO2/SrTiO3 core–shell heterostructured nanowire arrays with different shell thicknesses(5–40 nm)were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a hydrothermal process.Microstructural characterization demonstrated that the TiO2 nanowires were uniformly coated by the singlecrystal SrTiO3 shell,where continuous and large-area interface could be clearly observed.By this means,significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting properties(0.78 mA·cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs.RHE)were successfully realized in well-designed sample(with a shell thickness of 5–10 nm)compared with those of pristine TiO2(0.38 mA·cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs.RHE).The improvement of photoelectrochemical properties was attributed to the improved charge injection and charge separation,which are calculated by the results of water oxidation and sulfite oxidation measurements.Based on these results,a mechanism was proposed that SrTiO3 shell acted as an electron–hole separation layer to improve the photocurrent density.On the other hand,the sample with an over-thick SrTiO3 shell(20–40 nm)exhibited slightly reduced photoelectrochemical properties(0.66 mA·cm^-2),which could be explained by the increase of the recombination rate in thethicker SrTiO3 shell.This work provided a facile strategy to improve and modulate the photoelectrochemical performance of heterostructured photoanodes.展开更多
Using low-cost precipitated silica(SiO2) as the carrier,a ternary SiO2-TiO2/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst was prepared via the sol-gel method associated with a wet-grinding process.The asprepared composite exhibits p...Using low-cost precipitated silica(SiO2) as the carrier,a ternary SiO2-TiO2/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst was prepared via the sol-gel method associated with a wet-grinding process.The asprepared composite exhibits photocatalytic hydrogen production and pollutant degradation performance under solar-like irradiation.The effect of SiO2 carrier on the properties of the heterostructure between TiO2 and g-C3N4(CN) was systematically studied.It is found that SiO2 has important effects on promoting the interaction between TiO2 and CN.The particle size of TiO2 and CN was obviously reduced during the calcination process due to the effects of SiO2.Especially,the TiO2 particles exhibit monodispersed state with particle size below 10 nm(quantum dots),resulting in the improvement of the contact area and the interaction betweenTiO2 and CN,and leading to the formation of efficient TiO2/CN Zscheme heterostructure in SiO2-TiO2/CN.Besides,the introduction of SiO2 can increase the specific surface area and light absorption of SiO2-TiO2/CN,further promoting the photocatalytic reaction.As expected,the optimum SiO2-TiO2/CN composite exhibits 12.3,3.1 and 2.9 times higher photocatalytic hydrogen production rate than that of SiO2-TiO2,CN and TiO2/CN under solar-like irradiation,while the photocatalytic active component in SiO2-TiO2/CN is only about 60 wt%.Moreover,the rhodamine B degradation rate of SiO2-TiO2/CN is also higher than that of SiO2-TiO2,CN and TiO2/CN.展开更多
Photoelectrochemical(PEC) cathodic protection is considered as an environment friendly method for metals anticorrosion. In this technology, a n-type semiconductor photoanode provides the photogenerated electrons for m...Photoelectrochemical(PEC) cathodic protection is considered as an environment friendly method for metals anticorrosion. In this technology, a n-type semiconductor photoanode provides the photogenerated electrons for metal to achieve cathodic protection. Comparing with traditional PEC photoanode for water splitting, it requires the photoanode providing a suitable cathodic potential for the metal, instead of pursuit ultimate photon to electric conversion efficiency, thus it is a more possible PEC technology for engineering application. To date, great efforts have been devoted to developing novel n-type semiconductors and advanced modification method to improve the performance on PEC cathodic protection metals. Herein, recent progresses in this field are summarized. We highlight the fabrication process of PEC cathodic protection thin film, various nanostructure controlling, doping, compositing methods and their operation mechanism. Finally, the current challenges and future potential works on improving the PEC cathodic protection performance are discussed.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51232006, 51472218 and 11474249)the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2015CB654900)
文摘Vertically aligned TiO2/SrTiO3 core–shell heterostructured nanowire arrays with different shell thicknesses(5–40 nm)were fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a hydrothermal process.Microstructural characterization demonstrated that the TiO2 nanowires were uniformly coated by the singlecrystal SrTiO3 shell,where continuous and large-area interface could be clearly observed.By this means,significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting properties(0.78 mA·cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs.RHE)were successfully realized in well-designed sample(with a shell thickness of 5–10 nm)compared with those of pristine TiO2(0.38 mA·cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs.RHE).The improvement of photoelectrochemical properties was attributed to the improved charge injection and charge separation,which are calculated by the results of water oxidation and sulfite oxidation measurements.Based on these results,a mechanism was proposed that SrTiO3 shell acted as an electron–hole separation layer to improve the photocurrent density.On the other hand,the sample with an over-thick SrTiO3 shell(20–40 nm)exhibited slightly reduced photoelectrochemical properties(0.66 mA·cm^-2),which could be explained by the increase of the recombination rate in thethicker SrTiO3 shell.This work provided a facile strategy to improve and modulate the photoelectrochemical performance of heterostructured photoanodes.
基金partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21577132,21978276)。
文摘Using low-cost precipitated silica(SiO2) as the carrier,a ternary SiO2-TiO2/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst was prepared via the sol-gel method associated with a wet-grinding process.The asprepared composite exhibits photocatalytic hydrogen production and pollutant degradation performance under solar-like irradiation.The effect of SiO2 carrier on the properties of the heterostructure between TiO2 and g-C3N4(CN) was systematically studied.It is found that SiO2 has important effects on promoting the interaction between TiO2 and CN.The particle size of TiO2 and CN was obviously reduced during the calcination process due to the effects of SiO2.Especially,the TiO2 particles exhibit monodispersed state with particle size below 10 nm(quantum dots),resulting in the improvement of the contact area and the interaction betweenTiO2 and CN,and leading to the formation of efficient TiO2/CN Zscheme heterostructure in SiO2-TiO2/CN.Besides,the introduction of SiO2 can increase the specific surface area and light absorption of SiO2-TiO2/CN,further promoting the photocatalytic reaction.As expected,the optimum SiO2-TiO2/CN composite exhibits 12.3,3.1 and 2.9 times higher photocatalytic hydrogen production rate than that of SiO2-TiO2,CN and TiO2/CN under solar-like irradiation,while the photocatalytic active component in SiO2-TiO2/CN is only about 60 wt%.Moreover,the rhodamine B degradation rate of SiO2-TiO2/CN is also higher than that of SiO2-TiO2,CN and TiO2/CN.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant no.41506093)
文摘Photoelectrochemical(PEC) cathodic protection is considered as an environment friendly method for metals anticorrosion. In this technology, a n-type semiconductor photoanode provides the photogenerated electrons for metal to achieve cathodic protection. Comparing with traditional PEC photoanode for water splitting, it requires the photoanode providing a suitable cathodic potential for the metal, instead of pursuit ultimate photon to electric conversion efficiency, thus it is a more possible PEC technology for engineering application. To date, great efforts have been devoted to developing novel n-type semiconductors and advanced modification method to improve the performance on PEC cathodic protection metals. Herein, recent progresses in this field are summarized. We highlight the fabrication process of PEC cathodic protection thin film, various nanostructure controlling, doping, compositing methods and their operation mechanism. Finally, the current challenges and future potential works on improving the PEC cathodic protection performance are discussed.
