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In situ grown TiN/N-TiO2 composite for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity

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Abstract

Titanium nitride (TiN) decorated N-doped titania (N-TiO2) composite (TiN/N-TiO2) is fabricated via an in situ nitridation using a hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 and melamine (MA) as raw materials. After the optimization of the reaction condition, the resultant TiN/N-TiO2 composite delivers a hydrogen evolution activity of up to 703 μmol/h under the full spectrum irradiation of Xe-lamp, which is approximately 2.6 and 32.0 times more than that of TiO2 and TiN alone, respectively. To explore the underlying photocatalytic mechanism, the crystal phase, morphology, light absorption, energy band structure, element composition, and electrochemical behavior of the composite material are characterized and analyzed. The results indicate that the superior activity is mainly caused by the in situ formation of plasmonic TiN and N-TiO2 with intimate interface contact, which not only extends the spectral response range, but also accelerates the transfer and separation of the photoexcited hot charge carrier of TiN. The present study provides a fascinating approach to in situ forming nonmetallic plasmonic material/N-doped TiO2 composite photocatalysts for high-efficiency water splitting.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21975190, 21573166, and 21271146), the Science and Technology Program of Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (JCYJ20180302-153921190), and the Funds for Creative Research Groups of Hubei Province (2014CFA007), China.

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  1. These authors contributed to this work equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Wuhan University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Dong Liu & Peng Zeng

  2. College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Zhuqing Yan, Haoran Liu & Renjie Li

  3. Research Institute of Wuhan University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Tianyou Peng

  4. College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Tianyou Peng

Authors
  1. Dong Liu
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  2. Zhuqing Yan
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  3. Peng Zeng
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  4. Haoran Liu
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  5. Tianyou Peng
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  6. Renjie Li
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Correspondence to Peng Zeng, Tianyou Peng or Renjie Li.

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Liu, D., Yan, Z., Zeng, P. et al. In situ grown TiN/N-TiO2 composite for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution activity. Front. Energy 15, 721–731 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0766-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-021-0766-8

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