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TiO 2 Single Crystal with Four‐Truncated‐Bipyramid Morphology as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production
Author(s) -
Zhang Kai,
Liu Qian,
Wang Hui,
Zhang Rubo,
Wu Chunhui,
Gong Jian Ru
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201300841
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , hydrofluoric acid , materials science , hydrothermal synthesis , hydrogen production , hydrothermal circulation , nanotechnology , bipyramid , catalysis , nanostructure , titanium dioxide , chemical engineering , hydrogen , morphology (biology) , photochemistry , crystal structure , chemistry , crystallography , organic chemistry , metallurgy , engineering , biology , genetics
Diverse titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanostructures have attracted much attention recently due to their potential application in photocatalytic and photovoltaic fields. Here, the synthesis of a TiO 2 single crystal with a novel four‐truncated‐bipyramid morphology is reported for the first time, produced by a simple hydrothermal method. Both peroxo titanic acid precursor and hydrofluoric acid capping agent are essential for the formation of this unique morphology. Moreover, the as‐prepared TiO 2 photocatalyst exhibits excellent hydrogen production activity from an ethanol–water solution, which is attributed to exposure of both high‐energy {001} oxidative and low‐energy {101} reductive facets in an optimal ratio. The current findings will contribute greatly to development of more novel photocatalysts with controllable microscopic structures for hydrogen production.