Facile Synthesis of Hollow TiO2 Single Nanocrystals with Improved Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Activities

Min Liu; Miao Zhong; Hongmei Li; Lingyu Piao; Wenjing Wang

doi:10.1002/cplu.201402368

Facile Synthesis of Hollow TiO₂ Single Nanocrystals with Improved Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Activities

Chempluschem. 2015 Apr;80(4):688-696. doi: 10.1002/cplu.201402368. Epub 2015 Jan 12.

Authors

Min Liu^{1

2}, Miao Zhong², Hongmei Li³, Lingyu Piao⁴, Wenjing Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Solar Thermal Energy and Photovoltaic System, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 6 Beiertiao, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
² School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan).
³ Institute of Laser and Information, Department of Information Engineering, Shaoyang University, Hunan 42200 (P.R. China).
⁴ National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, No. 11 Beiyitiao, Zhongguancun, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).

PMID: 31973432
DOI: 10.1002/cplu.201402368

Abstract

Diverse titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) nanostructures have attracted considerable attention owing to their broad applications in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical fields. Herein, TiO₂ hollow single nanocrystals are reported for the first time by using TiO₂ nanopowders as the raw material and hydrofluoric acid as a capping and etching agent through a simple hydrothermal treatment. The influence of experimental parameters such as the concentration of HF, the amount of TiO₂ nanoparticles, the reaction time, and temperature was investigated systematically. The obtained hollow single nanocrystals exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performances attributed to their good crystallinity, suppressed charge recombination, and increased active sites. The current study will provide new insights into the nanostructured engineering of anatase TiO₂ as well as opportunities for the controllable synthesis of hollow single nanocrystals.

Keywords: electrochemistry; hollow structures; nanocrystals; photochemistry; titanium.

Abstract

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