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Morphology evolution and visible light driven photocatalysis study of Ti3+ self-doped TiO2−x nanocrystals

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Abstract

One conceptually different approach has been developed to synthesize Ti3+ self-doped TiO2−x mesocrystals to narrow the band gap of TiO2. This simple and economical one-pot solvothermal method uses TiCl3 and tetrabutyltitanate (TBT) as a precursor and exhibits practical application. Different morphology including uniform spindle shape, tetragonal bipyramid, and capsule-like mesocrystals can be tailored easily by tuning the precursor ratio of TiCl3 to TBT. We have shown that our band gap engineered TiO2−x exhibits unique mesocrystal phase and owns substantial high visible light driven photocatalytic activities. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of this sample verified the presence of oxygen centered radicals, namely, hydroxyl (·OH) and superoxide radicals (O2−·/·OOH). The catalysts have been characterized using transmission electron microscope, fluorescence spectra, Raman spectra, EPR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra, etc. It shows high catalytic stability. The findings of this work provide new insights for developing morphology tailored for visible light driven devices and other applications via controlled band gap engineering.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21271155 and 21473161), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ17B030001), Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Academic Discipline of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (No. 1141172), and Zhejiang SCI-TECH University for 521 distinguished scholar’s scheme.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Fang Li & Tiehu Han

  2. Department of Chemistry and the Engineering Research Center for Eco-dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Huigang Wang & Xuming Zheng

  3. Engineering Research Center for Eco-dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Junmin Wan

  4. Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas, 75429, USA

    Bukuo Ni

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  1. Fang Li
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  3. Huigang Wang
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  4. Xuming Zheng
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Correspondence to Huigang Wang.

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Li, F., Han, T., Wang, H. et al. Morphology evolution and visible light driven photocatalysis study of Ti3+ self-doped TiO2−x nanocrystals. Journal of Materials Research 32, 1563–1572 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.49

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