Chinese Journal of Catalysis

Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2007, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (12): 1083-1088.

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Highly Efficient Photocatalyst InVO4/CNTs for Water Decomposition to Produce Hydrogen under Visible Light Irradiation

XU Lixian1, MA Chongfang1, SANG Lixia1*, LI Qunwei1, DAI Hongxing2*, HE Hong2   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory of Enhanced Heat Transfer and Energy Conservation of the Ministry of Education, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, China; 2 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, China
  • Received:2007-12-25 Online:2007-12-25 Published:2007-12-25

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Abstract: The InVO4/CNTs photocatalyst was prepared by the ethanol thermal method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the support. The morphology, crystal structure, surface area, and photon absorption properties of the synthesized InVO4/CNTs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy,X-raydiffraction, N2 adsorption, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The water decomposition photoactivity of the catalyst was investigated using a 300 W Xe lamp as light source. The results show that InVO4 particles are homogeneously dispersed on the surface of CNTs. The particle size is about 10 nm, and the surface area of InVO4/CNTs reaches 102 m2/g. The visible light (λ＞420 nm) response of InVO4/CNTs is greatly improved as compared with the bulk InVO4. The average H2 evolution rates from pure H2O and 20% aqueous methanol solution within4 hare 156 and 217 μmol/(g•h), respectively, under Xe lamp irradiation. The high photocatalytic activity of InVO4/CNTs is related to the electronic properties of the CNTs support.

Key words: carbon nanotube, indium vanadate, photocatalysis, water decomposition, hydrogen, visible light