Hierarchical Branched TiO<sub>2</sub> Photo/Photoelectrocatalyst with Directed Charge Transfer for Efficient Hydrogen Production from Seawater
The directed electron transport channel design in semiconductors, which could promote charge utilization, is attractive but rarely reported. Hierarchical branched titanium dioxide (HB-TiO<sub>2</sub>), possessing a charge cascade transfer channel, was constructed by assembling titanium-defected TiO<sub>2</sub> nanobranches on oxygen-defected TiO<sub>2</sub> nanobelts. The interfacial Ti/O vacancies have been detected by X-ray photoelectron and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies, and the vacancies act as the "bridge" of photogenerated carrier transport. This structure maintained high photoactivity in H<sub>2</sub> production in different mass fractions of NaCl solutions. The photocurrent density of the HB-TiO<sub>2</sub> photoanode in natural seawater is 3.9, 2.1, and 2.6 times that of oxygen-defected TiO<sub>2</sub> nanobelts, titanium-defected TiO<sub>2</sub> nanobranches, and their mixture, respectively. Besides, the charge transport mechanism from the inner lattice to the TiO<sub>2</sub> surface is proposed.
Authors
- Jie Ying (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5747-4915)
- Yi Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4034-5869)
- Fu‐Fei Pu
- Ge Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5153-7704)
- Christoph Janiak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6288-9605)
- He Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4076-7279)
- Wei Geng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5841-3498)
- Liying Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0175-9796)
- Xiaoyu Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0880-9790)
- Yixuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9522-8651)
- Si‐Ming Wu
- Ze-En Zhou
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Shenzhen Polytechnic University (CN)
- Wuhan University of Technology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics (CN)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2024-08-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c10346
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.02
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Wuhan University of Technology
- Jilin Province Key R&D Plan Project
- Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project
- Changjiang Scholar Program of Chinese Ministry of Education
- National Key Research and Development Program of China Stem Cell and Translational Research