Cerium Synchronous Doping in Anatase for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Ethanol-Water Mixtures
Mei-Hong Tong,
Yan-Xin Chen,
Tian-Ming Wang,
Shi-Wei Lin,
Gen Li,
Qian-Qian Zhou,
Rui Chen,
Xia Jiang,
Hong-Gang Liao,
Can-Zhong Lu
Affiliations
Mei-Hong Tong
College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
Yan-Xin Chen
College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
Tian-Ming Wang
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Shi-Wei Lin
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Gen Li
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Qian-Qian Zhou
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Rui Chen
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Xia Jiang
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Hong-Gang Liao
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Can-Zhong Lu
CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China
Cerium element with a unique electric structure can be used to modify semiconductor photocatalysts to enhance their photocatalytic performances. In this work, Ce-doped TiO2 (Ce/TiO2) was successfully achieved using the sol-gel method. The structural characterization methods confirm that Ce was doped in the lattice of anatase TiO2, which led to a smaller grain size. The performance test results show that the Ce doped in anatase TiO2 significantly enhances the charge transport efficiency and broadens the light absorption range, resulting in higher photocatalytic performance. The Ce/TiO2 exhibited a photocurrent density of 10.9 μA/cm2 at 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, 2.5 times higher than that of pure TiO2 (4.3 μA/cm2) under AM 1.5 G light. The hydrogen (H2) production rate of the Ce/TiO2 was approximately 0.33 μmol/h/g, which is more than twice as much as that of the pure anatase TiO2 (0.12 μmol/h/g). This work demonstrates the effect of Ce doping in the lattice of TiO2 for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production.
