TY - JOUR
T1 - The selective deposition of silver nanoparticles onto {101} facets of TiO2 nanocrystals with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets, and their enhanced photocatalytic reduction of aqueous nitrate under simulated solar illumination
AU - Sun, Dechen
AU - Yang, Weiyi
AU - Zhou, Long
AU - Sun, Wuzhu
AU - Li, Qi
AU - Shang, Jian Ku
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Prof. Dejun Wang and Mr. Linqi Shi of College of Chemistry, Jilin University for the experimental assistance and useful discussion on the surface photovoltage spectrum measurement. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51102246 ), the Knowledge Innovation Program of Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. Y0N5A111A1 ), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. Y2N5711171 ), the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, PR China , and the Basic Science Innovation Program of Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science (Grant No. Y4N56R1161 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/3/1
Y1 - 2016/3/1
N2 - Highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of environmental pollutants requires the enrichment of photogenerated electrons on the photocatalyst's surface. Thus, proper material design and modification are needed to efficiently separate photogenerated electron/hole pairs and achieve their oriented migrations for the enrichment of photogenerated electrons on their surface. In this work, a modified photo-deposition process was developed which successfully deposited silver nanoparticles selectively on {101} facets of TiO2 nanocrystals with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets. The synergistic effect of crystal facet engineering and the selective deposition of silver nanoparticles on {101} facets largely enhanced the separation of photogenerated carriers and enriched the presence of photo-generated electrons onto the surface of TiO2 to a net negative-charged surface. A strong photocatalytic reduction capability of the sample was demonstrated by its superior photocatalytic reduction activity on aqueous nitrate under a simulated solar illumination. The removal ratio of aqueous nitrate reached ~95%, and most of the reduction product was the desirable N2 with the selectivity over 90%. These TiO2 nanocrystal with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets and silver modification on {101} facets could also effectively remove both nitrate and various organic pollutants from water simultaneously.
AB - Highly efficient photocatalytic reduction of environmental pollutants requires the enrichment of photogenerated electrons on the photocatalyst's surface. Thus, proper material design and modification are needed to efficiently separate photogenerated electron/hole pairs and achieve their oriented migrations for the enrichment of photogenerated electrons on their surface. In this work, a modified photo-deposition process was developed which successfully deposited silver nanoparticles selectively on {101} facets of TiO2 nanocrystals with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets. The synergistic effect of crystal facet engineering and the selective deposition of silver nanoparticles on {101} facets largely enhanced the separation of photogenerated carriers and enriched the presence of photo-generated electrons onto the surface of TiO2 to a net negative-charged surface. A strong photocatalytic reduction capability of the sample was demonstrated by its superior photocatalytic reduction activity on aqueous nitrate under a simulated solar illumination. The removal ratio of aqueous nitrate reached ~95%, and most of the reduction product was the desirable N2 with the selectivity over 90%. These TiO2 nanocrystal with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets and silver modification on {101} facets could also effectively remove both nitrate and various organic pollutants from water simultaneously.
KW - Aqueous nitrate removal
KW - Photocatalytic reduction
KW - Selective deposition of Ag nanoparticles
KW - Solar illumination
KW - TiO nanocrystals with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.09.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84941912397
VL - 182
SP - 85
EP - 93
JO - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
JF - Applied Catalysis B: Environmental
SN - 0926-3373
ER -