Fan J., Fan X., Fan J., Fan X., Hu X., Liu E., Kang L., Tang C., Wu H., Li Y., Liu E., Ma Y.
Northwest University, CN
Keywords: Ag deposited, anodic oxidation, Fe doped, localized surface plasmon resonance, nanotube arrays, photocatalysis, water-splitting
Recently, studies revealed that noble metal (Au, Ag, Pd) nanoparticles can improve the photoresponse property of TiO2 in the visible region based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, and thus enhance the activity of TiO2 photocatalyst. Simultaneously, doping TiO2 with transition metal cations is an effective strategy to reduce electron-hole recombination rate and increase photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, noble metal Ag was employed to modify the photoactivity of Fe/TiO2 nanotube arrays based on its LSPR effect. In this paper, Fe3+ ions doped anatase TiO2 nanotube arrays were successfully synthesized by the electrochemical anodic oxidation of pure titanium in an NH4F electrolyte solution containing iron ions and then Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were assembled in Fe/TiO2 nanotube arrays by microwave-assisted chemical reduction. The average pore diameter as calculated from SEM image is 50 nm. Fe doped and Ag deposited TiO2 nanotube arrays display good visible light absorption activity and a clear red shift in the UV-visible light range.Furthermore, Ag NPs and Fe3+ could restrain the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs of TiO2 NTs according to the PL spectra study.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2014: Electronics, Manufacturing, Environment, Energy & Water
Published: June 15, 2014
Pages: 304 - 307
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Catalysis
ISBN: 978-1-4822-5830-1