Enhanced hydrogen evolution from CuOx-C/TiO2 with multiple electron transport pathways

PLoS One. 2019 Apr 15;14(4):e0215339. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215339. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles co-modified with CuOx (0≤x≤2) and carbonaceous materials were prepared with a simple hydrolysis and photo-reduction method for photocatalytic hydrogen generation. SEM/TEM and XPS analysis indicated that the carbonaceous materials were mostly coated on the TiO2 surface and clearly revealed that the Cu species exhibited multivalence states, existing as CuOx (0≤x≤2). The optimal catalyst showed a 56-fold enhanced hydrogen evolution rate compared with that of the pure C/TiO2 catalyst. Further, an intensive multiple electron transfer effect originating from CuOx and the carbonaceous materials is proposed to be responsible for the elevated photoactivity. CuOx species serve as electron donors facilitating charge carrier transfer and proton reduction sites. The carbonaceous materials function as the "bridge" that transfers the electrons of TiO2 to the CuOx species, which provides a new route for electron transfer and reinforces the effect of CuOx as a co-catalyst. In this study, the CuOx and C co-modified TiO2 catalyst was prepared with multiple electron transport pathways and enhanced hydrogen production evolution, which provides a deep understanding for the design of co-catalyst-based photocatalysts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalysis
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Electron Transport
  • Hydrogen / chemistry*
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Photochemical Processes*
  • Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

  • titanium dioxide
  • Copper
  • Hydrogen
  • Titanium
  • cupric oxide

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.7951724

Grants and funding

This work has been partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51278456 and 51778564) to WZ. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.