Issue 14, 2023

Biomass-derived carbon deposited TiO2 nanotube photocatalysts for enhanced hydrogen production

Abstract

In this study, titanium oxide nanotubes (TiO2NTs) were deposited on the surface of activated carbon (AC) by varying the wt% of AC. The physicochemical properties of synthesized TiO2NTs–AC nanocomposites were analysed by various characterization techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, Raman, DRUV-vis, HR-TEM, XPS, PL, and N2 physisorption. The FT-IR, EDX, and XPS analyses proved the existence of interaction between AC and TiO2NTs. This study found that as the content of AC increases, the surface area and pore volume increase while the energy bandgap decreases. The TiO2NTs–AC nanocomposite with 40% AC exhibited a surface area of 291 m2 g−1, pore volume of 0.045 cm3 g−1 and half pore width = 8.4 Å and had a wide band gap energy (3.15 eV). In addition, the photocatalytic application of the prepared nanocomposites for photocatalytic H2 production was investigated. The H2 was produced via photo-reforming in the presence of a sacrificial agent (methanol) under sunlight irradiation. It was found that the prepared TiO2NTs–AC nanocomposite with 40% AC acted as an efficient photocatalyst for aqueous-methanol reforming under various optimization conditions. Approximately 18 000 μmol−1 hydrogen gas was produced via aqueous-methanol reforming under optimized conditions (catalyst dose = 100 mg, temperature = 25 °C, time = 12 hours, vol. of methanol = 20% (v/v), and pH = 7). The reusability of the TiO2NTs–AC nanocomposite was also investigated for 5 consecutive cycles, and the results suggested only a slight decline in efficiency even after the fifth cycle. This study demonstrates the ability of an activated carbon deposited TiO2NT catalyst to produce hydrogen effectively under sunlight.

Graphical abstract: Biomass-derived carbon deposited TiO2 nanotube photocatalysts for enhanced hydrogen production

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Apr 2023
Accepted
22 May 2023
First published
23 Jun 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale Adv., 2023,5, 3671-3683

Biomass-derived carbon deposited TiO2 nanotube photocatalysts for enhanced hydrogen production

S. A. Althabaiti, Z. Khan, M. A. Malik, S. M. Bawaked, S. Z. Al-Sheheri, M. Mokhtar, S. I. Siddiqui and K. Narasimharao, Nanoscale Adv., 2023, 5, 3671 DOI: 10.1039/D3NA00211J

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