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Highly Efficient UV–Visible Photocatalyst from Monolithic 3D Titania/Graphene Quantum Dot Heterostructure Linked by Aminosilane
Author(s) -
Yoon Hyewon,
Lee Kisung,
Kim Hyojung,
Park Minsu,
Novak Travis G.,
Hyun Gayea,
Jeong Mun Seok,
Jeon Seokwoo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced sustainable systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.499
H-Index - 24
ISSN - 2366-7486
DOI - 10.1002/adsu.201900084
Subject(s) - heterojunction , photocatalysis , materials science , quantum dot , graphene , visible spectrum , nanotechnology , absorption (acoustics) , charge carrier , optoelectronics , nanocomposite , band gap , chemical engineering , catalysis , chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , engineering
As rapidly growing environmental pollution demands the development of efficient photocatalytic materials, tremendous attention has been drawn to TiO 2 , a widely used photocatalytic material with cost‐effectiveness, stability, and outstanding reactivity. To maximize its photocatalytic efficiency by enhancing the photogenerated charge separation, lowering the intrinsically large bandgap (3.2 eV) of TiO 2 is a key problem to be overcome. Herein, a new design is reported for an efficient photocatalyst realized by heterostructuring a 3D nanostructured TiO 2 monolith (3D TiO 2 ) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) through using 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as a linker. The incorporation of APTES between the TiO 2 /GQD interface enables the formation of a charge injection‐type heterostructure, as confirmed by transient absorption spectroscopy, providing improvement of both visible absorption and charge separation. As a result, the heterostructure exhibits a 242% enhanced photocatalytic performance compared to that of nonheterostructured 3D TiO 2 under visible irradiation, demonstrating its promising potential for practical photocatalytic applications in environmental remediation.