Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production

Efficient design of a photocatalyst is an important step in realizing real world applications. In this work, using in-situ catalysis we have prepared and investigated a titanate nanotube (TiNT)/ graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite, which after optimization shows excellent hydrogen production effi...

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Main Authors: Ruochen Liu, Shiqi Zhao, Xiaorong Cheng, Luhua Lu, Xiyang Liu, Tianqi Liu, Bochao Dong, Graham Dawson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Next Materials
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822824002557
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author Ruochen Liu
Shiqi Zhao
Xiaorong Cheng
Luhua Lu
Xiyang Liu
Tianqi Liu
Bochao Dong
Graham Dawson
author_facet Ruochen Liu
Shiqi Zhao
Xiaorong Cheng
Luhua Lu
Xiyang Liu
Tianqi Liu
Bochao Dong
Graham Dawson
author_sort Ruochen Liu
collection DOAJ
description Efficient design of a photocatalyst is an important step in realizing real world applications. In this work, using in-situ catalysis we have prepared and investigated a titanate nanotube (TiNT)/ graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite, which after optimization shows excellent hydrogen production efficiency of 2.3 mmolg−1h−1, much improved compared to GCN, which achieved a rate of 0.56 mmolg−1h−1. We can conclude that pyrolysis of urea to carbon nitride also self catalyses the breakdown of TiNT into anatase TiO2 nanoparticles, resulting in a nanocomposite material comprising TiO2 and heterojunctions with GCN. After heating and modification the TiO2 shows a conduction band edge with a more negative potential than the H+/H2 potential, which along with the ideal position of the GCN CB edge facilitates hydrogen production under light irradiation. This novel method can be viewed as a general method for improving catalysis synthesis and design, whilst simultaneously reducing the complexity and energy footprint of active catalyst synthesis.
format Article
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institution OA Journals
issn 2949-8228
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Next Materials
spelling doaj-art-6bcfdea508c14ed29075162bbf4f797a2025-08-20T02:30:14ZengElsevierNext Materials2949-82282025-04-01710035810.1016/j.nxmate.2024.100358Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen productionRuochen Liu0Shiqi Zhao1Xiaorong Cheng2Luhua Lu3Xiyang Liu4Tianqi Liu5Bochao Dong6Graham Dawson7Department of Chemistry, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR ChinaSuzhou Vocational Institute of Industrial Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215104, PR ChinaChina University of Geoscience, Wuhan, PR ChinaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR ChinaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR ChinaDepartment of Chemistry, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR China; Corresponding author.Efficient design of a photocatalyst is an important step in realizing real world applications. In this work, using in-situ catalysis we have prepared and investigated a titanate nanotube (TiNT)/ graphitic carbon nitride nanocomposite, which after optimization shows excellent hydrogen production efficiency of 2.3 mmolg−1h−1, much improved compared to GCN, which achieved a rate of 0.56 mmolg−1h−1. We can conclude that pyrolysis of urea to carbon nitride also self catalyses the breakdown of TiNT into anatase TiO2 nanoparticles, resulting in a nanocomposite material comprising TiO2 and heterojunctions with GCN. After heating and modification the TiO2 shows a conduction band edge with a more negative potential than the H+/H2 potential, which along with the ideal position of the GCN CB edge facilitates hydrogen production under light irradiation. This novel method can be viewed as a general method for improving catalysis synthesis and design, whilst simultaneously reducing the complexity and energy footprint of active catalyst synthesis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822824002557PhotocatalysisTitanate nanotubesSelf-catalyzed breakdownCarbon nitride
spellingShingle Ruochen Liu
Shiqi Zhao
Xiaorong Cheng
Luhua Lu
Xiyang Liu
Tianqi Liu
Bochao Dong
Graham Dawson
Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
Next Materials
Photocatalysis
Titanate nanotubes
Self-catalyzed breakdown
Carbon nitride
title Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
title_full Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
title_fullStr Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
title_full_unstemmed Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
title_short Self-catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
title_sort self catalysed breakdown of titanate nanotubes by graphitic carbon nitride resulting in enhanced hydrogen production
topic Photocatalysis
Titanate nanotubes
Self-catalyzed breakdown
Carbon nitride
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949822824002557
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