Issue 46, 2015

Fabrication of nanocomposites composed of silver cyanamide and titania for improved photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Abstract

Highly efficient composite photocatalysts composed of silver cyanamide (Ag2NCN) and anatase titania (TiO2) were fabricated through a chemical precipitation process of silver nitrate and cyanamide in TiO2 suspensions. The TiO2 nanoparticles around 15 nm were immobilized on the surface of rectangular Ag2NCN particles to form a hetero-structure, and the contents of TiO2 were varied to tune the structure and the photocatalytic performances. In comparison with single TiO2 or Ag2NCN, the TiO2/Ag2NCN nanocomposites exhibited a prominent improved photocatalytic activity in the hydrogen generation, and the hydrogen evolution rate (1494.0 μmol (g h)−1) was higher than most of the reported TiO2-composite photocatalysts. Based on the structure investigation, the photocatalytic mechanism of these TiO2/Ag2NCN nanocomposites was proposed. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to three points: the matched energy level between TiO2 and Ag2NCN promoted the electron–hole transfer and thus inhibited the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes; the great electron storage capacity of metallic silver produced in the photocatalytic process also facilitated the charge separation; in addition, the expanded absorption spectrum because of the composite structure enhanced the UV and visible light response ability. These TiO2/Ag2NCN nanocomposites also presented good photocatalytic stability in the typical cycle tests. This work provided new insights into fabricating highly efficient composite photocatalysts containing silver and TiO2 for hydrogen generation.

Graphical abstract: Fabrication of nanocomposites composed of silver cyanamide and titania for improved photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Oct 2015
Accepted
08 Oct 2015
First published
13 Oct 2015

Dalton Trans., 2015,44, 19948-19955

Author version available

Fabrication of nanocomposites composed of silver cyanamide and titania for improved photocatalytic hydrogen generation

H. Meng, X. Li, X. Zhang, Y. Liu, Y. Xu, Y. Han and J. Xu, Dalton Trans., 2015, 44, 19948 DOI: 10.1039/C5DT03869C

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