Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution over TiO<sub>2-X</sub> Mesoporous Spheres-ZnO Nanorods Heterojunction
BingKe Zhang,
Qi Li,
Dongbo Wang,
Jinzhong Wang,
Baojiang Jiang,
Shujie Jiao,
DongHao Liu,
Zhi Zeng,
ChenChen Zhao,
YaXin Liu,
ZhiKun Xun,
Xuan Fang,
ShiYong Gao,
Yong Zhang,
LianCheng Zhao
Affiliations
BingKe Zhang
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Qi Li
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Harbin 150080, China
Dongbo Wang
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Jinzhong Wang
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Baojiang Jiang
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Harbin 150080, China
Shujie Jiao
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
DongHao Liu
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Zhi Zeng
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
ChenChen Zhao
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
YaXin Liu
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
ZhiKun Xun
College of Science, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Guandu Road No. 139, Maoming 525000, China
Xuan Fang
State Key Laboratory of High Power Semiconductor Lasers, School of Science, Changchun University of Science and Technology, 7089 Wei-Xing Road, Changchun 130022, China
ShiYong Gao
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Yong Zhang
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
LianCheng Zhao
National Key Laboratory for Precision Hot Processing of Metals, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Photocatalytic water splitting into hydrogen is regarded as one of the key solutions to the deterioration of the global environment and energy. Due to the significantly reduced grain boundaries, ZnO nanorods facilitate a fast electron transfer through their smooth tunnels and are well suited as a photocatalyst. However, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of pristine ZnO nanorods is still low due to the high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the less light absorption. Here, a novel structure about black ZnO nanorods (NRs)/TiO2-X mesoporous spheres (MSs) heterojunction has been prepared and the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance has been explored. The photocatalytic activity test results showed that ZnO NRs/TiO2-X MSs exhibited higher catalytic activity than ZnO NRs for hydrogen production. Compared to the pure ZnO NRs photoanode, the photocurrent of ZnO NRs/TiO2-X MSs heterojunction photoanode could reach 0.41 mA/cm2 in view of the expanding spectral response region and effective inhibition of e−/h+ recombination at the same condition. Using a relatively integrated experimental investigation and mechanism analysis, we scrutinized that after being treated with NaBH4, TiO2 MSs introduce oxygen vacancies expanding the photocatalytic activity of pure TiO2, and improving conductivity and charge transport capabilities through coating on ZnO NRs. More importantly, the results provide a promising approach in the NRs/MSs composite structure serving as photoanodes for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
