TY - JOUR
T1 - Montmorillonite dispersed single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/TiO 2 heterojunction composite for enhanced dynamic photocatalytic H 2 production under visible light
AU - Umer, Muhammad
AU - Tahir, Muhammad
AU - Azam, Muhammad Usman
AU - Tahir, Beenish
AU - Jaffar, Mohammad Musaab
AU - Alias, Hajar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/6/15
Y1 - 2019/6/15
N2 - Fabrication of montmorillonite (Mt) dispersed single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/TiO 2 heterojunction composite with high capacity for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light has been investigated. The composite samples, developed via a simple sol-gel assisted wet-impregnation method, were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The synergistic effects between Mt/SWCNTs coupled TiO 2 ternary composite exhibited excellent performance for H 2 production in a slurry type photoreactor system using methanol-water mixture under visible-light irradiations. The highest H 2 yield rate of 9780 ppm h −1 g −1 was achieved over SWCNTs/Mt/TiO 2 , which was 4.04, 2.05 and 1.33 times higher than using TiO 2 , Mt/TiO 2 and SWCNTs/TiO 2 , respectively. This significantly enhanced performance can be attributed to synergism effects between SWCNTs and Mt for transporting charge carrier with their hindered recombination. Furthermore, impressively high H 2 photocatalytic activity was achieved with methanol-water mixture at pH 7, which was 6.77 times higher than using water splitting process. The apparent quantum yield obtained over the Mt-TiO 2 /SWCNTs composite was ~ 4 folds higher than using pristine TiO 2 . In addition, heterojunction composite retained stable and excellent photocatalytic performance for H 2 formation up to three cyclic runs. Thus, designing highly efficient, noble metals-free and low cost photocatalyst can offer a promising way for H 2 generation under solar energy to encounter environmental pollution.
AB - Fabrication of montmorillonite (Mt) dispersed single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/TiO 2 heterojunction composite with high capacity for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light has been investigated. The composite samples, developed via a simple sol-gel assisted wet-impregnation method, were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The synergistic effects between Mt/SWCNTs coupled TiO 2 ternary composite exhibited excellent performance for H 2 production in a slurry type photoreactor system using methanol-water mixture under visible-light irradiations. The highest H 2 yield rate of 9780 ppm h −1 g −1 was achieved over SWCNTs/Mt/TiO 2 , which was 4.04, 2.05 and 1.33 times higher than using TiO 2 , Mt/TiO 2 and SWCNTs/TiO 2 , respectively. This significantly enhanced performance can be attributed to synergism effects between SWCNTs and Mt for transporting charge carrier with their hindered recombination. Furthermore, impressively high H 2 photocatalytic activity was achieved with methanol-water mixture at pH 7, which was 6.77 times higher than using water splitting process. The apparent quantum yield obtained over the Mt-TiO 2 /SWCNTs composite was ~ 4 folds higher than using pristine TiO 2 . In addition, heterojunction composite retained stable and excellent photocatalytic performance for H 2 formation up to three cyclic runs. Thus, designing highly efficient, noble metals-free and low cost photocatalyst can offer a promising way for H 2 generation under solar energy to encounter environmental pollution.
KW - H generation.
KW - Montmorillonite
KW - Photocatalysis
KW - SWCNTs
KW - Synergistic effect
KW - TiO
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U2 - 10.1016/j.clay.2019.03.029
DO - 10.1016/j.clay.2019.03.029
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063723617
SN - 0169-1317
VL - 174
SP - 110
EP - 119
JO - Applied Clay Science
JF - Applied Clay Science
ER -
