Results in Engineering (Dec 2023)

Copper oxide modified biphasic titania for enhanced hydrogen production through photocatalytic water splitting

  • M.P. Nikhila,
  • C. Anjali,
  • V. Nidhisha,
  • K.R. Sunaja Devi,
  • Mrinal R. Pai,
  • Renuka Neeroli Kizhakayil

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20
p. 101474

Abstract

Read online

Recently, TiO2(B) has been extensively used in catalytic and energy fields owing to its exceptional crystal structure. But being a metastable state, TiO2(B) is transformed easily into other stable crystalline forms like anatase or rutile phase, and the low crystallinity limits the application of the material in catalysis. A combination of TiO2(B) with anatase, which is benefitted by a homojunction, is proven to be blessed with high activity. Herein, hydrogen production via photocatalytic water-splitting is presented using Cu modified biphasic titania nanotubes achieved by a facile hydrothermal procedure. The systems are well characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD analysis, N2 adsorption study, FTIR, DR-UV, Raman, Photoluminescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectral analysis. The homo-junction developed in titania due to anatase –TiO2 (B), as well as the heterojunction created by the co-catalyst, tune the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotubes positively, as evident from the enhanced hydrogen production over the system.

Keywords