Black titania, with greatly improved solar absorption, has demonstrated its effectiveness in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical cells (PEC), inspiring us to explore the blackening of other wide band-gap oxide materials for enhanced performance. Herein, we report the fabrication of black, reduced Nb2O5 nanorods (r-Nb2O5), with active exposed (001) surfaces, and their enhanced photocatalytic and PEC properties. Black r-Nb2O5 nanorods were obtained via reduction of pristine Nb2O5 by molten aluminum in a two-zone furnace. Unlike the black titania, r-Nb2O5 nanorods are well-crystallized, without a core-shell structure, which makes them outstanding in photocatalytic stability. Substantial Nb(4+) cation and oxygen vacancies (VO) were introduced into r-Nb2O5, resulting in the enhanced absorption in both the visible and near-infrared regions and improved charge separation and transport capability. The advantage of the r-Nb2O5 was also proved by its more efficient photoelectrochemical performance (138 times at 1.23 VRHE) and higher photocatalytic hydrogen-generation activity (13 times) than pristine Nb2O5. These results indicate that black r-Nb2O5 is a promising material for PEC application and photocatalysis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5dt04578a | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Improved hydrogen production performance of an S-scheme NbO/LaO photocatalyst.
Dalton Trans
December 2024
Institute for Sustainable Energy, College of Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
Addressing the intricate challenge of simultaneously improving the separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and enhancing redox potentials to produce hydrogen fuel demands the rational design of S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. Herein, we used a hydrothermal process to integrate NbO nanorods and LaO nanosheets to design an NbO/LaO S-scheme system for photocatalytic hydrogen production under simulated sunlight illumination. Notably, the optimal hydrogen production performance of NbO/LaO (the molar ratio of NbO to LaO is 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPseudohexagonal NbO Anodes for Fast-Charging Potassium-Ion Batteries.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
April 2023
Electrochemical Innovation Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCL, London WC1E 7JE, U.K.
High-rate batteries will play a vital role in future energy storage systems, yet while good progress is being made in the development of high-rate lithium-ion batteries, there is less progress with post-lithium-ion chemistry. In this study, we demonstrate that pseudohexagonal NbO(TT-NbO) can offer a high specific capacity (179 mAh g ∼ 0.3C), good lifetime, and an excellent rate performance (72 mAh g at ∼15C) in potassium-ion batteries (KIBs), when it is composited with a highly conductive carbon framework; this is the first reported investigation of TT-NbO for KIBs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne-pot in-situ hydrothermal synthesis of ternary InS/NbO/NbC Schottky/S-scheme integrated heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production.
J Colloid Interface Sci
December 2022
Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Multi-media Environmental Catalysis and Resource Utilization, Joint International Research Laboratory of Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science & Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address:
MXene-derived photocatalysts continue to fascinate the research community in developing photo-driven green and sustainable fuel production. However, the efficiency of MXene-derived photocatalyst is still low due to the wide bandgap and high recombination rate of photo-excited charge carriers. Here, we have synthesized the NbC MXene-derived ternary photocatalyst via one-pot in-situ hydrothermal method for photocatalytic hydrogen (H) evolution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHighly [001]-oriented N-doped orthorhombic NbO microflowers with intercalation pseudocapacitance for lithium-ion storage.
Nanoscale
August 2022
School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
Orthorhombic NbO (T-NbO), a typical intercalation pseudocapacitor, is favorable for realizing high power and energy density for lithium-ion batteries; furthermore, the 2D layered channels perpendicular to the [001] direction facilitate fast Li intercalation in T-NbO. Herein, N-doped T-NbO microflowers (N-NbO) assembled from highly [001]-oriented nanoflakes are rationally synthesized using NHF as the nitrogen source and capping agent. It is found that NH can adsorb on the O-terminated (010) plane of T-NbO N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which is highly conducive to the generation of 1D nanorods and the subsequent fusion of the nanorods into highly [001]-oriented nanoflakes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effect of the metal and selenium precursors on the properties of NbSe and NbSe nanostructures and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells.
RSC Adv
September 2021
Molecular Sciences Institute, School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 South Africa +27 11 717 6720 +27 11 717 6774.
Herein, we report on the effect of the precursors on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of niobium selenide using the heat-up colloidal method. The metal precursor was varied from the conventional NbCl to NbF whilst Se, SeO, and selenourea were used as the selenium precursors. The NbCl and NbF resulted in the formation of NbSe and NbSe respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!