Abstract
Copper nanoparticles/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse-reflectance spectrum (UV-VIS DRS), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained Cu/FTO nanocomposites exhibit high photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. When the content of Cu is 19.2 wt % for FTO, the Cu/FTO photocatalyst shows the highest photocatalytic activity and the photocatalytic H2 evolution rate is up to 11.22 μmol·h−1. Meanwhile, the photocatalyst exhibits excellent stability and repeatability. It is revealed that the transfer efficiency of the photogenerated electrons is improved greatly because of the intense interaction between Cu NPs and FTO. Furthermore, a possible mechanism is proposed for enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution of Cu/FTO photocatalysts under visible light irradiation.
Highlights
Hydrogen (H2 ) is regarded as one of the most promising energy sources because of its high energy content per mass
Honda firstly reported the photolysis of water based on TiO2 electrodes in 1972 [4], semiconductor materials as photocatalysts have been extensively studied for highly-efficient solar water splitting
It is well known that tin oxide (SnO2 ) is one of the most promising semiconductors for photocatalytic H2 evolution due to its excellent chemical and physical properties [7]
Summary
Hydrogen (H2 ) is regarded as one of the most promising energy sources because of its high energy content per mass. Many semiconductor materials have been developed as efficient photocatalystys to make the utmost of solar energy for photocatalytic H2 evolution [5,6]. It is well known that tin oxide (SnO2 ) is one of the most promising semiconductors for photocatalytic H2 evolution due to its excellent chemical and physical properties [7]. Many researchers have been trying to modify SnO2 to increase its absorption of visible light, which accounts for 45% of sunlight [9]. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is widely used as conducting electrodes for photoelectrochemical reactions [13]. Owing to the rapid recombination that photoinduction carries, the photocatalytic activity of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) for H2 evolution is usually very low, or non-existent, in the presence of a sacrificial agent [14]
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