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Controlled Synthesis of TiO 2 Nanostructures: Exceptional Hydrogen Production in Alcohol‐Water Mixtures over Cu(OH) 2 –Ni(OH) 2 /TiO 2 Nanorods
Author(s) -
Majeed Imran,
Nadeem Muhammad A.,
Kanodarwala Fehmida K.,
Hussain Ejaz,
Badshah Amin,
Hussain Irshad,
Stride John A.,
Nadeem Muhammad Arif
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.201701080
Subject(s) - nanorod , photocatalysis , hydrogen production , calcination , materials science , noble metal , hydrogen , catalysis , metal , water splitting , chemical engineering , nickel , inorganic chemistry , copper , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
Development of non‐noble metal photocatalysts for hydrogen (H 2 ) generation from renewables is important towards cost effective technology. Titania nanorods with different phase compositions and surface areas were fabricated by calcination of hydrogen titanate (H 2 Ti 3 O 7 ) precursors obtained by treating P25 (TiO 2 ) hydrothermally in 10 M NaOH and followed by HCl washing. Subsequently the copper and nickel hydroxides were co‐deposited over TiO 2 nanorods and used to generate H 2 from alcohol‐water mixtures under UV light. Among the synthesized materials, the optimized photocatalyst 0.8Cu(OH) 2 ‐0.2Ni(OH) 2 /TNR 130 ‐400 showed very high H 2 production rates that are 26.6 mmol h −1 g −1 in 20 vol.% ethanol‐water mixture and 35.1 mmol h −1 g −1 in 5 vol.% glycerol‐water mixtures. The amount of this H 2 production is even higher than obtained from noble metal supported TiO 2 photocatalysts. This exceptional photocatalytic H 2 production is attributed to the high synergism among nanords mophology of support and in situ formation of Cu and Ni exclusively in metallic states during photoreactions.