In this work, NiCu co-catalysts on TiO2 are studied for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. NiCu co-catalyst films are deposited at room temperature by argon plasma sputtering on high aspect-ratio anodic TiO2 nanotubes. To tune the Ni : Cu atomic ratio, alloys of various compositions were used as sputtering targets. Such co-catalyst films are found to be amorphous with small nanocrystalline domains. A series of parameters is investigated, i. e., i) Ni : Cu relative ratio in the sputtered films, ii) NiCu film thickness, and iii) thickness of the TiO2 nanotube layers. The highest photocatalytic activity is obtained with 8 μm long TiO2 nanotubes, sputter-coated with a 10 nm-thick NiCu films with a 1 : 1 Ni : Cu atomic ratio. This photocatalyst reaches a stable hydrogen evolution rate of 186 μL h−1 cm−2, 4.6 and 3 times higher than that of Ni- and Cu-TiO2, respectively, demonstrating a synergistic co-catalytic effect of Ni and Cu in the alloy co-catalyst film.

Amorphous NiCu Thin Films Sputtered on TiO2 Nanotube Arrays: A Noble-Metal Free Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution

Pinna M.
Primo
;
Spanu D.;Recchia S.;
2022-01-01

Abstract

In this work, NiCu co-catalysts on TiO2 are studied for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. NiCu co-catalyst films are deposited at room temperature by argon plasma sputtering on high aspect-ratio anodic TiO2 nanotubes. To tune the Ni : Cu atomic ratio, alloys of various compositions were used as sputtering targets. Such co-catalyst films are found to be amorphous with small nanocrystalline domains. A series of parameters is investigated, i. e., i) Ni : Cu relative ratio in the sputtered films, ii) NiCu film thickness, and iii) thickness of the TiO2 nanotube layers. The highest photocatalytic activity is obtained with 8 μm long TiO2 nanotubes, sputter-coated with a 10 nm-thick NiCu films with a 1 : 1 Ni : Cu atomic ratio. This photocatalyst reaches a stable hydrogen evolution rate of 186 μL h−1 cm−2, 4.6 and 3 times higher than that of Ni- and Cu-TiO2, respectively, demonstrating a synergistic co-catalytic effect of Ni and Cu in the alloy co-catalyst film.
2022
2022
https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cctc.202201052
hydrogen evolution; NiCu alloy; noble-metal free; photocatalysis; TiO2
Pinna, M.; Wei, A. W. W.; Spanu, D.; Will, J.; Yokosawa, T.; Spiecker, E.; Recchia, S.; Schmuki, P.; Altomare, M.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11383/2142973
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