Preparation and characterization of TiO2-based photocatalysts

Abstract

TiO2 has become one of the most promising photocatalysts for hydrogen production based on the water splitting reaction. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 depends on its crystalline phase, crystallinity, crystallite size and surface area. Moreover, there are different ways to increase the photocatalytic activity of TiO2, such as coupling it with noble metals or adding other semiconductors. In this research work, 0,5%Pt/TiO2-x%M (M=In, Ga, Fe, Ru and x=0,19-1,26) photocatalysts have been prepared with two types of TiO2 with similar textural characteristics but different crystalline phase. The study has particularly focused on the photocatalysts containing indium and gallium. Afterwards, the photocatalysts have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) method, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), temperature-programmed reduction-H2 (TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characteristics of the catalysts that have been studied are structural, textural and superficial properties, the band gap and the reduction behaviour.