Photocatalytic decomposition of water for hydrogen production at room temperature by the surface of a new titanium dioxide powder

From Hefei learned, the school's scientific researchers successfully constructed a new type of anatase titanium dioxide surface model, can achieve visible absorption of titanium dioxide and catalytic activity significantly increased, photocatalytic decomposition of water to hydrogen production, can provide a new path for clean energy development. Relevant achievements have been published in the international famous periodicals "advanced Functional Materials".

Titanium dioxide has excellent photocatalytic properties, and has a wide application prospect in the fields of photocatalytic hydrogen production, reduction of carbon dioxide and photolysis of organic pollutants. The results show that the above catalytic reactions occur on the surface of titanium dioxide, because the chemical activity of the main surface of titanium dioxide is low and the absorption efficiency of visible light is not high, so how to improve the surface activity and visible absorption efficiency of titanium dioxide becomes a hot research topic in the field of Titania photocatalysis.

The research group of Zhou Rurong, an associate professor of materials science and Engineering of Hefei University of Technology, cooperates with Professor Zengxiaocheng of the College of Nebraska, Lincoln, and constructs a new type of anatase titanium dioxide surface using the theory of first principle. The simulation results show that the surface has a suitable bandgap, which can greatly increase the absorption efficiency of visible light, and the reactivity of chemical reaction is very high. At the same time, the reconstructed surface is more stable in the titanium-rich environment, and can be successfully prepared under the conditions of low oxygen pressure and high temperature.

The molecular dynamics simulation shows that the surface model can decompose the water molecules adsorbed on the surface at room temperature, which shows that the surface has good photocatalytic ability and can be used for photocatalytic hydrogen production, thus obtaining clean energy.