Surface-anchored N-based functional groups driven photoactivity of SrTiO3
Áron Ágoston,
Lilla Balassa,
Mohit Yadav,
Cintia Hajdu,
Gergő Ballai,
Zoltán Kovács,
Tamás Gyulavári,
Karolina Solymos,
Ákos Kukovecz,
Zoltán Kónya,
Zsolt Pap
Affiliations
Áron Ágoston
Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Aradi v.sqr.1, Hungary; Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Lilla Balassa
Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Aradi v.sqr.1, Hungary
Mohit Yadav
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Cintia Hajdu
Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Sciences, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Aradi v.sqr.1, Hungary
Gergő Ballai
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Zoltán Kovács
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Tamás Gyulavári
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Karolina Solymos
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary; Department of Geoinformatics, Physical and Environmental Geography, University of Szeged, HU-6722, Szeged, Egyetem Str. 2-6, Hungary
Ákos Kukovecz
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Zoltán Kónya
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary
Zsolt Pap
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary; Centre of Nanostructured Materials and Bio-Nano Interfaces, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Bio-Nano-Sciences, Treboniu Laurian street 42, Cluj-Napoca, RO, 400271, Romania; Institute of Research-Development-Innovation in Applied Natural Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, Fântânele Str. 30, RO, 400294, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Corresponding author. Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, University of Szeged, H-6720 Szeged, Rerrich Béla sqr. 1, Hungary.
Surface modification, including the anchoring of functional groups is a popular method to increase the photocatalytic activity of semiconductor photocatalysts. These species can trap excited electrons, thus prolonging the life of the charge carriers. N-containing functional groups are suitable for this purpose due to their high electron density. Here, we report a facile synthesis method for preparing interfacial N-based functional groups-modified and nitrogen-doped SrTiO3 photocatalysts. Among the modified samples (with 0.42–11.14 at.% nominal nitrogen content), the one with 7.71 at.% nitrogen showed 6.4 times higher photooxidation efficiency for phenol and 2.2 times better photoreduction efficiency for CO2 conversion than the unmodified SrTiO3 reference. Characterization results showed that using a low amount of nitrogen source resulted in low but measurable nitrogen doping, which did not significantly affect the photocatalytic activity. The formation of surface amine groups was significant even at lower initial nitrogen concentrations, while higher amounts of nitrogen source gradually resulted in the incorporation of nitrogen in higher amounts. Surface amine groups decreased the recombination of charge carriers, resulting in increased photocatalytic activity.
