Hydrogen production from water splitting under visible light irradiation using sensitized mesoporous-assembled TiO2–SiO2 mixed oxide photocatalysts

This work focused on hydrogen production from the photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation using Eosin Y-sensitized mesoporous-assembled TiO₂–SiO₂ mixed oxide photocatalysts, of which the mesoporous-assembled TiO₂–SiO₂ mixed oxides with various TiO₂-to-SiO₂ molar ratios were synthesized by a sol–gel process with the aid of a structure-directing surfactant. The effects of SiO₂ content, calcination temperature, and phase composition of the mixed oxide photocatalysts were investigated. The experimental results showed that the TiO₂–SiO₂ mixed oxide photocatalyst with the TiO₂-to-SiO₂ molar ratio of 97:3 and calcined at 500 °C provided the maximum photocatalytic hydrogen production activity. The characterization results supported that the 0.97TiO₂–0.03SiO₂ mixed oxide photocatalyst (with the suitable SiO₂ content of 3 mol%) possessed superior physicochemical properties for the photocatalytic reaction as compared to the pure TiO₂, particularly higher specific surface area, lower mean mesopore diameter, higher total pore volume, and lower crystallite size, which led to an enhanced photocatalytic activity.     

Hydrogen production from water splitting under UV light irradiation over Ag-loaded mesoporous-assembled TiO2-ZrO2 mixed oxide nanocrystal photocatalysts

Hydrogen production from the photocatalytic water splitting reaction is very attractive because it is an environmentally friendly process, where hydrogen is produced from two abundantly renewable sources, i.e. water and solar energy, with the aid of photocatalysts. TiO₂ is the most widely investigated photocatalyst; however, it alone still exhibits low performance to photocatalytically produce hydrogen. Hence, the aim of this work focused on the enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production over Ag-loaded mesoporous-assembled TiO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxide nanocrystal photocatalysts under UV light irradiation. The TiO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxides with various TiO₂-to-ZrO₂ molar ratios were synthesized by a sol-gel process with the aid of a structure-directing surfactant, followed by Ag loading via a photochemical deposition method. The influences of photocatalyst preparation parameters, i.e. calcination temperature, phase composition, and Ag loading, were studied. The results revealed that the mesoporous-assembled TiO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxide nanocrystal photocatalyst with a TiO₂-to-ZrO₂ molar ratio of 93:7 calcined at 500 °C exhibited the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production activity, and the Ag loading of 0.5 wt.% further greatly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of such TiO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxide photocatalyst.     

Sol–gel-synthesized mesoporous-assembled TiO2–ZrO2 mixed oxide nanocrystals and their photocatalytic sensitized H2 production activity under visible light irradiation

The purpose of this work was to investigate, in the first study of its kind, hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation using Eosin Y-sensitized mesoporous-assembled TiO₂–ZrO₂ mixed oxide nanocrystal photocatalysts. The mesoporous-assembled TiO₂–ZrO₂ mixed oxide nanocrystals, with various TiO₂-to-ZrO₂ molar ratios, were synthesized by a sol–gel method with the aid of a structure-directing surfactant. The synthesized nanocrystals were characterized by thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric analyzer, N₂ adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope–energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer, and transmission electron microscope analyses. Parameters affecting the photocatalytic activity, including calcination conditions and phase composition, were mainly discussed. Experimental results showed that the incorporation of ZrO₂ with suitable contents could preserve the mesoporous-assembled structure of TiO₂ at high calcination temperatures and enhance its thermal stability significantly. Results of the photocatalytic-sensitized hydrogen production revealed that the TiO₂–ZrO₂ mixed oxide photocatalyst, with a TiO₂-to-ZrO₂ molar ratio of 95:5, calcined at 800 °C for 4 h, provided maximum photocatalytic hydrogen production activity. The optimized TiO₂–ZrO₂ mixed oxide photocatalyst can be considered as a potential photocatalyst for hydrogen production under solar light irradiation.