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One-Dimensional Mesoporous Anatase-TiO2/Rutile-TiO2/ZnTiO3 Triphase Heterojunction with Boosted Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Activity

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Abstract

The rational design of heterojunction photocatalysts with unique mesoporous structure is of significant importance for obtaining enhanced conversion efficiency of solar energy to hydrogen energy. In present work, for the first time, anatase-TiO2/rutile-TiO2/ZnTiO3 (TiO2(A-R)/ZnTiO3) heterojunction photocatalysts with a unique mesoporous structure were synthetized by a foaming agent assisted electrospinning method. The obtained mesoporous TiO2(A-R)/ZnTiO3 nanofibers photocatalyst showed the highest hydrogen generation rate (887.7 μmol·g−1·h−1) without use of any co-catalytic noble metals, which was approximately 2.0, 2.2 and 1.4 times higher than those of ordinary solid TiO2(A-R)/ZnTiO3, mesoporous TiO2(A-R) and mesoporous TiO2(A)/ZnTiO3 nanofibers, respectively. Significantly, the archived hydrogen generation rate is also better or comparable to the some ever reported 1D TiO2 based photocatalysts. The unique 1D mesoporous nanostructure would make the reactants and products migrating easily into/out of the photocatalyst while the closely-coupled triphase heterojunction can significantly favor the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, thus synergistically contributing to the improved photocatalytic activity. We also proposed that three types of charge transfer routes over the heterojunction photocatalysts, named “waterfall”, “concave” and “convex”, might concurrently promote the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes in this triphase photocatalyst system, thereby efficiently boost the photocatalytic hydrogen production activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., LTD Double Innovation Project (Grant No. B711JZ190006) and State Grid Co., Headquarters Science and Technology Project (Grant No. 5400-201919487A).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Grid Ningbo Power Supply Company, Ningbo, 315010, People’s Republic of China

    Yueping Yang, Yanwei Zhu, Xiaming Ye & Kaihe Zhou

  2. State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., LTD Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310000, People’s Republic of China

    Peng Li & Huazhi Chen

  3. State Grid Zhejiang Economic Research Institute, Hangzhou, 310007, People’s Republic of China

    Yangqing Dan

  4. Institute of Materials, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, 315211, People’s Republic of China

    Weiyou Yang & Huilin Hou

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  1. Yueping Yang
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Yang, Y., Zhu, Y., Ye, X. et al. One-Dimensional Mesoporous Anatase-TiO2/Rutile-TiO2/ZnTiO3 Triphase Heterojunction with Boosted Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Activity. Catal Lett 151, 359–369 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-020-03322-9

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