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Activated‐Carbon‐Templated Crystalline Tantalates for Photocatalytic Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Grewe Tobias,
Tüysüz Harun
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemnanomat
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.947
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2199-692X
DOI - 10.1002/cnma.201600033
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , materials science , non blocking i/o , mesoporous material , amorphous solid , photocatalytic water splitting , water splitting , stoichiometry , chemical engineering , specific surface area , tantalum , carbon fibers , amorphous carbon , nanotechnology , catalysis , crystallography , chemistry , composite material , composite number , organic chemistry , metallurgy , engineering
Herein, we report a facile nanocasting route for the preparation of crystalline mesoporous Ta 2 O 5 and NaTaO 3 with a high surface area using activated carbon as the structure‐directing hard template. The crystalline particles of Ta 2 O 5 and NaTaO 3 have mean sizes of 6 and 9 nm, constructing mesoporous networks with surface areas of 91 and 75 m 2 g −1 , respectively. The photocatalytic performances of the tantalum‐based replicas were investigated for the water splitting reaction by using methanol as sacrificial agent and better photocatalytic performances were observed in comparison with bulk and amorphous counterparts. Loading the templated Ta 2 O 5 and NaTaO 3 with 1 wt % NiO x boosted their photocatalytic activity. The most‐active sample, NaTaO 3 /NiO x , was also tested for overall water splitting and it produced hydrogen and oxygen in stoichiometric ratios at rates of 129 and 66 μmol h −1 , respectively.