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TiO 2 Nanotube Arrays Modified with Cr‐Doped SrTiO 3 Nanocubes for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution under Visible Light
Author(s) -
Jiao Zhengbo,
Zhang Yan,
Chen Tao,
Dong Qingsong,
Lu Gongxuan,
Bi Yingpu
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201304135
Subject(s) - materials science , photocatalysis , hydrogen production , visible spectrum , heterojunction , water splitting , photoelectric effect , doping , semiconductor , nanotube , nanotechnology , nanocomposite , hydrogen fuel , hydrogen , charge carrier , hydrothermal circulation , optoelectronics , chemical engineering , carbon nanotube , catalysis , chemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
In recent decades, solar‐driven hydrogen production over semiconductors has attracted tremendous interest owing to the global energy and environmental crisis. Among various semiconductor materials, TiO 2 exhibits outstanding photocatalytic properties and has been extensively applied in diverse photocatalytic and photoelectric systems. However, two major drawbacks limit practical applications, namely, high charge‐recombination rate and poor visible‐light utilization. In this work, heterostructured TiO 2 nanotube arrays grafted with Cr‐doped SrTiO 3 nanocubes were fabricated by simply controlling the kinetics of hydrothermal reactions. It was found that coupling TiO 2 nanotube arrays with regular SrTiO 3 nanocubes can significantly improve the charge separation. Meanwhile, doping Cr cations into SrTiO 3 nanocubes proved to be an effective and feasible approach to enhance remarkably the visible‐light response, which was also confirmed by theoretical calculations. As a result, the rate of photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution of these novel heteronanostructures is an order of magnitude larger than those of TiO 2 nanotube arrays and other previously reported SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 nanocomposites under visible‐light irradiation. Furthermore, the as‐prepared Cr‐doped SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 heterostructures exhibit excellent durability and stability, which are favorable for practical hydrogen production and photoelectric nanodevices.