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Selective introduction of surface defects in anatase TiO2 nanosheets for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation

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Abstract

Defect engineering greatly enhances the catalytic activity of transition metal semiconductor photocatalysts. Recently, localized surface defects engineering has been intensively researched, but it still remains challenges on how to tilt the balance to the controllable construction of surface defects rather than bulk ones. Here, we report a facile room-temperature solution processing strategy on (001) facet exposed anatase TiO2 nanosheets (ATO), in which localized defects are generated on the surface selectivity with high concentration. To achieve the aspect, lithium-ethylenediamine (Li-EDA) treatment is carried out on (001) facet exposed ATO under a mild condition. The optimized sample exhibits outstanding photocatalytic H2 production rates of 9.28 mmol·g−1·h−1 with loading 0.5 wt% Pt as co-catalyst (AM 1.5), which is nearly 7.5 times higher than that of the pristine ATO. This defect engineering strategy of ATO photocatalyst will spark the ideas for the defects engineering and semiconductor photocatalyst, which is with important application prospect in solar energy conversion, including hydrogen generation and carbon dioxide reduction.

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摘要

缺陷工程极大地提高了过渡金属半导体光催化剂的催化活性, 如何进行表面缺陷的可控构筑而非体相缺陷, 仍然是一个挑战。这里, 我们报告了一种基于锂-乙二胺 (Li-EDA) 的简便室温液相处理策略, 该策略在温和条件下选择性地在 (001) 面暴露的锐钛矿二氧化钛纳米片 (ATO) 上构建表面 Ti3+ 缺陷。结果表明, 表面Ti3+ 缺陷不仅提高了电荷分离效率, 而且为H2的析出提供了活性位点。结果表明, 在A.M. 1.5G条件下, 具有表面 Ti3+ 缺陷的 ATO 负载 0.5 wt% 的铂作为助催化剂时, 表现出出色的光催化产氢效率, 可达 9.28 mmol g−1·h−1, 比原始ATO高近7.5倍。此外, 与通过硼氢化钠热还原处理合成的同时具有体相和表面缺陷的 ATO 相比, 仅有表面 Ti3+ 缺陷的 ATO, 其光催化产氢效率也增加了近 2.9倍。

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21902104 and 21701135), the Natural Science Foundation of Top Talent of Shenzhen Technology University (No. 2019108101003) and the Foundation for Young Innovative Talents in Higher Education of Guangdong (No. 2018KQNCX401).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of New Materials and New Energies, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, 518118, China

    Jiang-Yuan Qiu, Hua-Zhang Feng, Zhao-Hui Chen, Shu-Hong Ruan, Yan-Ping Chen, Ting-Ting Xu, Jing-Yun Su & Lu-Yang Wang

  2. College of Health Science and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, 518118, China

    En-Na Ha

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  1. Jiang-Yuan Qiu
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Qiu, JY., Feng, HZ., Chen, ZH. et al. Selective introduction of surface defects in anatase TiO2 nanosheets for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Rare Met. 41, 2074–2083 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-021-01929-4

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