Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin film electrodes prepared by common pressure hydrothermal method at low temperature

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on nanocrys- talline TiO2 thin film electrodes have been widely investi- gated since they were invented by Gr?tzel et al. in 1991[1-3]. Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin film electrodes are usually pre- pared by coating TiO2 colloid with organic additives on conductive glass substrates and annealing at 400-450℃ to remove organic additives and achieve good electrical contact between TiO2 particles and between TiO2 particles and conductive substrates, which…     

Synthesis of crystalline perovskite-structured SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanoparticles using an alkali hydrothermal process

We report an experimental route for synthesizing perovskite-structured strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) nanocubes using an alkali hydrothermal process at low temperatures without further heating. Furthermore, we studied the influence of heating time (at 180℃) on the crystallinity, morphology, and perovskite phase formation of SrTiO₃. The SrTiO₃ powder, which is formed via nanocube agglomeration, transforms into cubic particles with a particle size of 120–150 nm after 6 h of hydrothermal sintering. The crystallinity and percentage of the perovskite phase in the product increased with heating time. The cubic particles contained 31.24at% anatase TiO₂ that originated from the precursor. By varying the weight ratio of anatase TiO₂ used to react with the strontium salt precursor, we reduced the anatase-TiO₂ content to 18.8at%. However, the average particle size increased when the anatase-TiO₂ content decreased.     

A review of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles

Climate change and the consumption of non-renewable resources are considered as the greatest problems facing humankind.Because of this,photocatalysis research has been rapidly expanding.TiO2 nanoparticles have been extensively investigated for photocatalytic applications including the decomposition of organic compounds and production of H2 as a fuel using solar energy. This article reviews the structure and electronic properties of TiO2,compares TiO2 with other common semiconductors used for photocatalytic applications and clarifies the advantages of using TiO2 nanoparticles.TiO2 is considered close to an ideal semi- conductor for photocatalysis but possesses certain limitations such as poor absorption of visible radiation and rapid recombination of photogenerated electron/hole pairs.In this review article,various methods used to enhance the photocatalytic characteristics of TiO2 including dye sensitization,doping,coupling and capping are discussed.Environmental and energy applications of TiO2, including photocatalytic treatment of wastewater,pesticide degradation and water splitting to produce hydrogen have been summarized.     

Catalysis of organic pollutant photodegradation by metal phthalocyanines immobilized on TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>@SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

A TiO2@SiO2 hybrid support was prepared by the sol-precipitation method using n-octylamine as a template.The photocatalyst manganese phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid (MnPcS) was immobilized on the support to form MnPcS-TiO2@SiO2.X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS) were employed to characterize the catalyst.The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and the catalytic oxidation of o-phenylenediamine (OPDA) under visible light irradiation were used as probe reactions.The mineralization efficiency and the degradation mechanism were evaluated using chemical oxygen demand (COD Cr) assays and electron spin resonance (ESR),respectively.RhB was efficiently degraded by immobilized MnPcS-TiO2@SiO2 under visible light irradiation.Complete decolorization of RhB occurred after 240 min of irradiation and 64.02% COD Cr removal occurred after 24 h of irradiation.ESR results indicated that the oxidation process was dominated by the hydroxyl radical (·OH) and superoxide radical (O-·2) generated in the system.     

Preparation of porous nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode by screen-printing technique

Different paste has been used for preparing porous TiO2 thin film by screen-printing technique, the main component of it comes from commercial TiO2 P25 power. The dye-sensitized solar cell based on this TiO2 thin film without further chemical treatments exhibits high overall conversion efficiency of 5.81%―6.70%, even with low TiO2 content and thin film thickness. The experimental repeatability is nice and the properties of the films are uniform.     

TiO2 nanotube arrays and TiO2-nanotube-array based dye-sensitized solar cell

To substitute the non-regular nano-crystalline semiconductor for a novel kind of ordered microstructure is a very important aspect in the domain of dye-sensitized solar cell. One of the researching hot- spots is the highly-ordered TiO2 nanotube architecture. As a new type of titania nano-material, titania nanotube arrays have drawn extraordinary attention due to its distinctive morphology, notable photo-electrical and hydro-sensitive performance. At 100% sun the new kind of TiO2 nanotube arrays solar cell exhibits an overall conversion efficiency of 5.44%. This paper introduces the preparation methods of titania nanotube arrays, the existing problems and recent progress in titania nanotube arrays solar cell.     

Photocatalytic activity of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> sensitized by CdS quantum dots under visible-light irradiation

In this paper, CdS quantum dots sensitized TiO2 composite powders (QD-CdS/TiO2) were synthesized by impregnating TiO2 powder into CdS sol with different concentrations. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) shows the crystal structures of CdS and TiO2 are cubic phase and anatase phase separately in QD- CdS/TiO2 powder samples; the crystal size of CdS in QD- CdS/TiO2 is about 3-7 nm, while TiO2 crystal size is about 20 nm. With increasing CdS content in QD-CdS/TiO2 composite, the UV-Vis absorption spectrum shifted to the longer wavelength lines, exhibiting obvious quantum size effect. The fluorescence intensity of QD-CdS/TiO2 irradiated by blue light is weaker than that of pure CdS. When the molar ratio of CdS and TiO2 is about 1∶2, the QD-CdS/TiO2 powder has the best catalytic properties under visible-light irradiation, and the degradation rate of rhodamine B (RhB) is up to 92.2% within 60 min.     

Preparation of Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and its application in pentachlorophenol photoelectrocatalytic degradation

Zn-doped titanium oxide （TiO2） nanotubes electrode was prepared on a titanium plate by direct anodic oxidation and immersing method in sequence. Field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） showed that the Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes were well aligned and organized into high density uniform arrays with diameter ranging from 50 to 90 nm. The length and the thickness were about 200 and 15 nm respectively. TiO2 anatase phase was identified by X-ray diffraction （XRD）. X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy （XPS） indicated that Zn ions were mainly located on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes in form of ZnO clusters. Compared with TiO2 nanotubes electrode, about 20 nm red shift in the spectrum of UV-vis absorption was observed. The degradation of pentachlorophenol （PCP） in aqueous solution under the same condition （initial concentration of PCP： 20 mg/L; concentration of Na2SO4：0.01 mol/L and pH： 7.03） was carried out using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and TiO2 nanotubes electrode. The degradation rates of PCP using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were found to be twice and 5.8 times as high as that using TiO2 nanotubes electrode by UV radiation （400 μw/cm^2） and visible light radiation （4500 μw/cm^2）, respectively. 73.5% of PCP was removed using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 45.5% removed using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min under UV radiation. While under visible light radiation, the degradation efficiency of PCP was 18.4% using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 3.2% using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min. The optimum concentration of Zn doping was found to be 0.909%. The PCP degradation efficiencies of the 10 repeated experiments by Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were rather stable with the deviation within 3.0%.     

TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>@MgO core-shell film: Fabrication and application to dye-sensitized solar cells

In this study,TiO2@MgO core-shell film was obtained by using a simple chemical bath deposition method to coat a thin MgO film around TiO2 nanoparticles. The core-shell configuration was characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD),scanning elec-tron microscopy (SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX),and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Lattice fringes were observed for the TiO2 particles,and the MgO shell showed an amorphous structure,revealing a clear distinction between the core and shell materials. Applying the core-shell film as photoanode to the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs),it shows a superior performance compared to the pure TiO2 electrode. Under the illumination of simulated sunlight (75 mW-cm-2),the short circuit photocurrent (Jsc),the open circuit photovoltage (Voc),and the fill factor (fF) are 8.80 mA-cm-2,646 mV,and 0.69,respectively,and the conversion efficiency (η) in-creased by 21.8% (from 4.32% to 5.26%) when dipping for opti-mum condition.     

Synthesis and characterization of wormhole-like mesoporous Ce0.6Zr0.35Y0.05O2 solid solutions

Nanoparticles of Ce0.6Zr0.35Y0.05O2 (CZY) solid solution have been prepared by the CTAB (hexadecyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide), CTAB-EG (ethylene glycol) templating, and CTAB-EG-NaCl (in which the pores of the precursor synthesized by the CTAB-EG method is filled by a certain amount of NaCl) method, respectively. The physical properties of these materials were characterized by means of tech-niques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and N2 adsorp-tion-desorption measurements. The CZY samples synthesized by the above three methods display wormhole-like mesoporous morphology and cubic crystal structures. The materials are narrow in pore size distribution (averaged pore diameter = 5.3―7.1 nm), high in surface areas (95―119 m2/g), and large in pore volumes (0.16―0.18 cm3/g). It has been demonstrated that the introduction of NaCl is capable of retaining the pore structures of solid nanomaterials at high-temperature calcination.     

Selective formation of tetrahedral Pt nanocrystals from K2PtCl6／PVP

Tetrahedral platinum (Pt) nanocrystals (3-8 nm) are synthesized in high selectivity (ca. 80%) from hydrogen reduction of aqueous K2PtCI6 by using polyvinylpyr-rolidone (PVP: Mw≈360000) as a protector. Morphology (TEM) measurements of the metal colloids and UV-Vis absorption of the colloidal solution are employed to monitor the tetrahedron formation during the syntheses with varying K2PtCl6/PVP ratios. The results clearly show a two-stage process for the selective formation of tetrahedral nanocrystals. Rapid nucleation and crystal formation at the early stage result in round-like crystallites and the external facet evolution in thereafter slow crystal growth leads selectively to the formation of the tetrahedrons.     

Photo-induced degradation of Ru（Ⅱ） complex absorbed on anatase TiO2 thin film electrode

Photo-induced degradation of a monolayer of Ru（Ⅱ） complex absorbed on anatase TiO2 thin film was studied by using resonant micro-Raman spectroscopy. Under intense light radiation of a laser and in the absence of a reducing agent, the dye decomposed quickly. When the dye-sensitized TiO2 thin film electrode was covered by a reducing agent, namely the I^-/I3^- redox couple, the photo-induced decomposing rate was slowed by a factor of -10^6. In both cases, the dye decomposed with time under an exponential law.     

Synthesis, Characterization and Calorimetry of Ni（C4H8N2O3）2Cl2

A coordination complex was synthesized from NiCl2 and dipeptide glycylglycine（GG）. It was characterized by element analysis, NMR and TG methods, and then was determined to be Ni（C4HsN2O3）2Cl2. Using an isoperibolic reaction calorimeter, the standard molar enthalpy of formation of Ni（GG）2Cl2（solid） has been determined to be -（1 674.66±2.02） kJ · mol^-1 at 298.15 K.     

High conversion efficiency of pristine TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotube arrays based dye-sensitized solar cells

We prepared highly-ordered titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNAs) by anodizing Ti foils in F-containing electrolytes.The crystalline nature and morphology of the TNAs were studied using X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy.We found the morphology of TNAs affects the light-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).The efficiency of DSSCs reached 5.95% under the condition of light illuminated from the counter electrode.The high efficiency of TNA-based DSSCs was attributed to the neat top surface of TNAs,which allows more dye molecule loading on the surface of the TiO 2 nanotubes,and fewer electron recombination centers and a low interface resistance of integrated TNAs.     

Static synthesis of high-quality MCM-22 zeolite with high SiO2／Al2O3 ratio

We demonstrate a synthesis method to broaden the range of SiO2/Al2O3 ratio (30-100) of high-silica MCM-22 zeolites by prolonging the aging time of the gel before the crystallization. The synthesis conditions such as silica sources, chemical compositions of initial gel and aging time of gel were investigated in detail.High quality MCM-22 products with various morphologies have been synthesized by optimize their synthesis conditions.Our results show that increasing of the aging time can make the gel be homogenization and promote their nucleus formation,which may avoid the formation of impurity phase and thus broaden the range of SiO2/Al2O3 ratio.     

Mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of dye MG by TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-film electrode with cathodic bias potential

Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) under visible light irradiation with TiO2-film electrode has been investigated to reveal the mechanism for TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of dyes. The supported TiO2 electrode was prepared in laboratory and detected by scanning electron micros-copy and X-ray diffractometry. We have examined the degradation kinetics, change in degradation rate of MG and photocurrent change with the bias potential, voltage-induced adsorption of dyes, accumu-lation of ...     

Synthesis of LiCo<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> as cathode materials for lithium ion batteries by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method

The synthesis process of LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2 was investigated by FT-IR, mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis, SEM, BET, TG/DTA and XRD in this paper. The results revealed that lithium and transition metal ions were trapped homogeneously on an atomic scale throughout the precursor. Li2CO3, NiO and CoO are the intermediate products obtained after decomposition of the precursor and Li2CO3 undergoes direct reactions with NiO and CoO to form LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2. Moreover, the kinetics of formation of LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2 by dtrate sol-gel method is faster than the case of the conventional solid-state reaction between lithium carbonate and corresponding reactants. The single phase of LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2 was synthesized at temperature as low as 550℃. The discharge capacity of LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2 increases from 127 to 185 mAh/g as the caldnation temperature increasing from 550 to 750℃. After 100 cycles, the discharge capacity of the sample calcined at 750℃ is 155 mAh/g. The electrochemical study shows that the LiCo0.3Ni0.7O2 has high discharge capacity and good cycling behavior for lithium ion batteries.     

Synthesis of highly ordered SnO2／Fe2O3 composite nanowire arrays by electrophoretic deposition method

Highly ordered SnO2/Fe2O3 composite nanowire arrays have been synthesized by electrophoretic deposition method. The morphology and chemical composition of SnO2/Fe2O3 composite nanowire arrays are characterized by SEM, TEM, EDX, XPS, and XRD. The results show that the SnO2/Fe2O3 composite nanowires are about 180 nm in width and tens of microns in length, and they are composed of small nanoparticles of tetraganal SnO2 and rhombohedral α-Fe203 with diameters of 10-15nm. The SnO2/Fe2O3 composite nanowires are formed by a series of chemical reactions.     

Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Spin-Liquid Tb2Ti2O7

Polycrystalline samples of a novel spin-liquid compound Tb2Ti2O7 were prepared by a standard solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction at room temperature confirms that the synthesized compound of Tb2Ti2O7 is single phase with cubic unit cell constant a0 of 1.015 44 nm. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range between 100 and 300 K give an effective moment of 9.44 μB and Curie-Weiss temperature of 12.68 K, respectively, indicating the dominance of antiferromagnetic interactions. However, below 50 K, the magnetic behavior of Tb2Ti2O7 deviates from Curie-Weiss law, whose origin remains suspicion.     

Preparation and characterization of in-site regenerated TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-ACFs photocatalyst

In-site regenerated titanium dioxide-activated carbon fibers (TiO₂-ACFs) photocatalyst was prepared by the sol-gel method. Detailed surface and structural characterization of the TiO₂-ACFs photocatalyst was carried out. The photoactivity of TiO₂-ACFs under ultraviolet irradiation was compared with original ACFs and pure TiO₂ by the degradation of methylene blue aqueous solution. The degradation efficiency by the TiO₂ (5wt%)-ACFs sample is much higher than that by TiO₂ and ACFs. The results show that the photocatalysis by TiO₂-ACFs is a six-step process. The adsorption-transfer-photocatalysis rate of TiO₂-ACFs is higher than the adsorption-photocatalysis rate of TiO₂, so the photocatalysis rate of the TiO₂-ACFs system is higher than that of TiO₂ photocatalyst.