Controllable Synthesis, Formation Mechanism, and Photocatalytic Activity of Tellurium with Various Nanostructures
Huan Wang,
Hanlin Zou,
Chao Wang,
Sa Lv,
Yujie Jin,
Hongliang Hu,
Xinwei Wang,
Yaodan Chi,
Xiaotian Yang
Affiliations
Huan Wang
Key Laboratory for Comprehensive Energy Saving of Cold Regions Architecture of Ministry of Education, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Hanlin Zou
Department of Materials Science, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Chao Wang
Key Laboratory for Comprehensive Energy Saving of Cold Regions Architecture of Ministry of Education, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Sa Lv
Key Laboratory for Comprehensive Energy Saving of Cold Regions Architecture of Ministry of Education, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Yujie Jin
Department of Materials Science, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Hongliang Hu
Department of Materials Science, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Xinwei Wang
Engineering Research Center of Optoelectronic Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun 130022, China
Yaodan Chi
Key Laboratory for Comprehensive Energy Saving of Cold Regions Architecture of Ministry of Education, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, China
Xiaotian Yang
Department of Chemistry, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000, China
Telluriums (Te) with various nanostructures, including particles, wires, and sheets, are controllably synthesized by adjusting the content of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in a facile solvothermal reaction. Te nanostructures all have complete grain sizes with excellent crystallinity and mesopore structures. Further, the formation mechanisms of Te nanostructures are proposed to be that the primary nuclei of Te are released from the reduction of TeO32− using N2H4·H2O, and then grow into various nanostructures depending on the different content of PVP. These nanostructures of Te all exhibit the photocatalytic activities for the degradation of MB and H2 production under visible light irradiation, especially Te nanosheets, which have the highest efficiencies of degradation (99.8%) and mineralization (65.5%) at 120 min. In addition, compared with pure Te nanosheets, the rate of H2 production increases from 412 to 795 μmol∙h−1∙g−1 after the introduction of Pt, which increases the output by nearly two times. The above investigations indicate that Te with various nanostructures is a potential photocatalyst in the field of degradation of organic pollutants and H2 fuel cells.
