Ti-Co mixed oxide as photocatalysts in the generation of hydrogen from water

Abstract

Abstract The effect of Co into the titanium oxide matrix as photocatalysts in the generation of hydrogen from water is herein reported. Ti–Co mixed oxides and pure titania were synthetized by sol-gel. The Co content was 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt.%. The solids were characterized by Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), N 2 physisorption, X-ray difrraction (XRD), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), spectroscopy Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectroscopy and High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The results showed that the mixed oxides show larger specific surface areas (73–186 m 2 /g) compare to that of pure TiO 2 (64 m 2 /g). The XRD patterns of the Ti-Co samples resemble that of anatase and segregation of Co was not observed by this technique. The band gap energies of these solids vary from 3.05 to 2.85 eV which are smaller than that of pure TiO 2 (3.2 eV). The Ti-Co oxides showed an enhancement in the hydrogen production (∼3056 μmol/h) compare to that of TiO 2 (190 μmol/h) when using UV light. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of titania (110 μmol/h) for this reaction was also smaller than those observed for the Ti-Co mixed oxides (∼4056 μmol/h) under visible light.