Synthesis Of Novel Photocatalytic Electrode Materials And Exploration Of Their Photoelectrocatalytic Properties

Energy crisis and environmental pollutions are the two key problems restrict the development of the human society.Using clean energy to replace fossil fuels,constructing renewable resources is a valid way to solve the problems above.Solar energy is a kind of inexhaustible energy which can supply the power to push the development of human society.However,the cost and the efficiency to use this new energy is rather high,in addition,the solar energy cannot be harvest when it is rainy or dark which lead its using area.Photocatalysis technology is a great way which can absorb the solar energy and store it in chemical substance which can be use again in 24 hours.In all of these new energy,hydrogen is extensively recognized as a no-pollution,high heat value energy.It has been considered as the most potential substitutional energy in the twenty first centry.Using photocatalysis technology to get hydrogen from water has been attract extensively attention.Semiconductor-based photochemical technology can utilized to transfer solar energy to chemical energy or electrical energy.TiO₂,as a classic semiconductor material with non-toxic,low price and photochemical stability,has been widely used to produce hydrogen.Nevertheless,the intrinsic defects of TiO₂,such as narrow absorption spectra,low utilization efficiency of solar light,high recombination rate of photo-induced electrons and holes,severely limited their practical application for energy and environmental remediation.Various strategies have been explored to solve these problems via full-band absorption TiO₂,noble metal modification and combination of photocatalysis and electro-chemistry for achieving photoelectrocatalysis.Thus,the present thesis focused on the following parts:?1?We use two steps hydrothermal methods to combine anatase TiO₂ dots and rutile TiO₂ nanorods into one electrode.This two crystal TiO₂ forms have different crystal forms and band gaps.We put this two TiO₂ together and this heterogeneous junction can get higher photocatalytic performance.We research the performance of the electrode under Ultraviolet light,and work it as the photo-anode to get its hydrogen generation efficiency.?2?Using simple one step hydrothermal method,we construct rutile TiO₂ nanorods on the surface of the copper foam.We use TiCl3 as the Titanium precursor,Copper has great conductive property,so this kind of the material can worked as a good pathway for the electron.On the other hand,Copper foam has many pores and surface areas which can offer much more TiO₂ nanorods.In this way,the electrode enhance the rate of the reaction,the light can be reflected in these pores which can harvest more light,avoiding the stacking layer by layer which can only make the catalyst bigger in nanoscale.?3?Using simple immersion and hydrothermal method,we can get the Cu₂ O nanowire arrays,then we wrap the nanowires by using TiO₂ nanosheets,Finally,we get the branched like Cu₂O electrode as the photocathode to reduce the CO₂ to formic acid.P type Cu₂O is a kind of the semiconductor that can pull the electron on the surface of the electrode,Cu₂ O is a good material to use as the photocathode.?4?We put the C₆₀ into the toluene and get the C₆₀ dispersion.Then mix the precursor melamine and the dispersion together and annealing it to get the graphitic carbon nitride,C₆₀ is a great material which can pull the electron due to the ?-? bond,enhance the photocatalytic performance of the graphitic carbon nitride.