Effects of Pt and In2O3 Decorations on the Photocatalytic Properties of Anatase TiO2 Nanowires

• Main Authors: Chen, Yu-Chih, 陳宇志
• Other Authors: Hsu, Yung-Jung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/01885856483160372603

碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 材料科學與工程學系 === 98 === Combination of semiconductor nanocrystal (NCs) with different band structures has been extensively explored since a lot of advantages may be offered by this composite system, for example, the wide absorption profile, the enhanced resistance to photobleaching, the continuous tunability of energetic levels, and the improved photoelectric conversion efficiency. In this thesis, we successfully synthesized In2O3-decorated anatase TiO2 nanowires (In2O3-TiO2 NWs) through a simple precipitation-annealing process. The difference in band structures between In2O3 and TiO2 provided charge carriers with another preferential route for charge transfer, resulting in the separation of photoexcited electrons and holes. The charge carrier separation in In2O3-TiO2 NWs was revealed with their photocatalytic decomposition toward an organic dye. As compared to the commercial P-25 TiO2 powder and In2O3-loaded TiO2 NW samples, the as-synthesized In2O3-TiO2 NWs exhibited superior photocatalytic efficiency under UV illumination, demonstrating their potential as an efficient photocatalyst in relevant redox reactions. A further enhancement in the photocatalytic activity of In2O3-TiO2 NWs can be achieved when Pt nanoparticles of suitable amount were deposited on the surface of TiO2. This improvement is due to the increasing driving force of electron transfer from In2O3 to TiO2 achieved by the decoration of Pt on TiO2 surfaces. Furthermore, the result of performance evaluation under natural sunlight shows that the present In2O3-TiO2-Pt NWs can be used as highly efficient photocatalysts which may practically harvest energy from sunlight. The electron transfer event among In2O3, TiO2 and Pt was also characterized with the corresponding photocurrent measurement and time-resolved PL spectroscopy.