Hydrogen from ethanol solution under UV-visible light. Photocatalysts produced by nitriding titanium nitride and indium oxide intimate mixtures to form Ti-In nitride composites

摘要

Photocatalytic production of hydrogen gas from 20% ethanol-water was accomplished with Ti-In nitride composites. These materials were produced by nitriding a TiO2 with ammonia at a high temperature, then adding In2O3 and further ammonolysis for different periods of time. The catalysts were very stable and continued to produce H2 gas at 920 μmol h~(-1) g~(-1) for 50 h and accumulated 12.8 mmol H2 gas. The water splitting photocatalytic reaction can be driven by UV-vis light, maximum producing H2 gas at 1277 μmol h~(-1) g~(-1). It is critical that we understand how having high, stable activity is possible. We used XPS, X-ray (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry, and BET surface area and pore size distribution for further characterization.