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Alternative Materials to TiO2

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Book cover Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Part of the book series: Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology ((GCST))

Abstract

One of the most significant investigations on heterogeneous photocatalytic process can be dated back to the 1970s, when Fujishima and Honda showed that the TiO2 electrode is capable of water splitting under suitable electromagnetic irradiation. Since then, TiO2-based materials have become the dominant photocatalyst and have been investigated for decades due to their abundance, non-toxicity, and relatively high reactivity. However, the bandgap of pristine TiO2 is larger than 3 eV, which can only absorb light that has a wavelength of less than 400 nm. Unfortunately, this portion of photons only corresponds to 4–5 % of the solar spectrum, which has limited the application of photocatalysis at an industrial scale. Moreover, the conduction band position of TiO2 is only slightly negative relative to that of the proton reduction potential, resulting in a relatively poor reduction power for solar-to-fuel conversion. Therefore, the development of alternative photocatalysts with visible light absorption and tunable properties is essential in the application of photocatalysis techniques.

In this chapter, we will consider the most popular photocatalyst systems other than TiO2. Their synthesis methods, characteristics, optimisations, and design will be presented. Last but not least, the design and synthesis of promoters, which play a very essential role in photocatalyst systems, will also be demonstrated at the end of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Syncat@Beijing, Synfuels China Co. Ltd., Leyuan South Street II, No.1, Yanqi Economic Development Zone C# Huairou District, Beijing, 101407, P.R. China

    Ren Su

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus C, DK-8000, Denmark

    Flemming Besenbacher

  3. Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK

    Graham Hutchings

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  1. Ren Su
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  2. Flemming Besenbacher
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  3. Graham Hutchings
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Correspondence to Ren Su .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Juan Carlos Colmenares

  2. State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China

    Yi-Jun Xu

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Su, R., Besenbacher, F., Hutchings, G. (2016). Alternative Materials to TiO2 . In: Colmenares, J., Xu, YJ. (eds) Heterogeneous Photocatalysis. Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48719-8_4

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