Hydrothermally synthesized highly dispersed Na2Ti3O7 nanotubes and their photocatalytic degradation and H2 evolution activity under UV and simulated solar light irradiation

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 1019 - 1025
• Main Authors: Vattikuti, S. V. Prabhakar, Reddy, Police Anil Kumar, Bandaru, Narendra, Shim, Jaesool, Byon, Chan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-04-2018; Springer Nature B.V; 한국화학공학회
• Subjects: Alternative energy; Alternative energy sources; Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Dispersion; Electronic; Hydrogen production; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic; Light; Light irradiation; Low cost; Materials (Organic; Materials Science; Nanostructure; Nanotubes; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Rhodamine; Synthesis; Thin Films; Titanium dioxide; Water splitting; 화학공학; Na; Hydrogen Evolution; Ti; Renewable Energy; Pollutants; Photocatalysts; O
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-017-0355-z

Photocatalytic water splitting technologies are currently being considered for alternative energy sources. However, the strong demand for a high H
2
production rate will present conflicting requirements of excellent photoactivity and low-cost photocatalysts. The first alternative may be abundant nanostructured titanate-related materials as a photocatalyst. Here, we report highly dispersed Na
2
Ti
3
O
7
nanotubes synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and the water splitting under UV-visible light irradiation. Compared with commercial TiO
2
, the nanostructured Na
2
Ti
3
O
7
demonstrated excellent photodegradation and water splitting performance, thus addressing the need for low-cost photocatalysts. The as-synthesized Na
2
Ti
3
O
7
nanotubes exhibited desirable photodegradation, and rate of H
2
production was 1,755 μmol·g
−1
·h
−1
and 1,130 μmol·g
−1
·h
−1
under UV and simulated solar light irradiation, respectively; the resulting as-synthesized Na
2
Ti
3
O
7
nanotubes are active in UV light than that of visible light response.