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Enhanced separation efficiency of photo-induced charge pairs and sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance of TiO2 prepared with the assistance of NH4Cl

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for catalytic, photoelectrochemical and sensor applications
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Abstract

The photocatalytic performance of TiO2 is significantly limited by its high recombination rate of photo-generated charge carriers, and therefore it is essential to further boost the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. In this paper, to enhance the separation efficiency of the photo-generated charge carriers by surface state regulation, a series of TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by sol–gel method with the assistance of NH4Cl and studied by the Brunauer-Emmet Teller method, X-ray diffraction patterns, UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy and surface photovoltage spectroscopy. The relative amount of •O2 − was measured using nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) method. The photocatalytic activities of the samples under the simulated sunlight irradiation were investigated using Rhodamine B as the model dye. The results reveal that all the samples prepared with the assistance of NH4Cl display better photocatalytic activity than the reference TiO2 and the enhancement mechanism was proposed.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported financially by the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Sichuan Institutes of High Education (No. LYJ1603).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Higher Education Institutes of Sichuan, College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, 643000, People’s Republic of China

    Xingwen Zheng, Qi Yang, Shengtian Huang, Junbo Zhong, Jianzhang Li, Ruhao Yang & Yuyun Zhang

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  1. Xingwen Zheng
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  2. Qi Yang
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  3. Shengtian Huang
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  4. Junbo Zhong
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  5. Jianzhang Li
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  6. Ruhao Yang
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  7. Yuyun Zhang
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Correspondence to Junbo Zhong.

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Zheng, X., Yang, Q., Huang, S. et al. Enhanced separation efficiency of photo-induced charge pairs and sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance of TiO2 prepared with the assistance of NH4Cl. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 83, 174–180 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4391-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4391-2

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