Synthesis of Ordered Mesoporous CuO/CeO2 Composite Frameworks as Anode Catalysts for Water Oxidation

Nanomaterials

Vassiliki Ι. Markoulaki²  Ioannis T. Papadas²  Ioannis Kornarakis²  Gerasimos S. Armatas¹  Jordi Sort² 

[1] Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion 71003, Greece;

关键词: mesoporous materials;    cerium oxide;    nanocasting;    nanostructured;    water oxidation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nano5041971

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Cerium-rich metal oxide materials have recently emerged as promising candidates for the photocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this article, we report the synthesis of ordered mesoporous CuO/CeO₂ composite frameworks with different contents of copper(II) oxide and demonstrate their activity for photocatalytic O₂ production via UV-Vis light-driven oxidation of water. Mesoporous CuO/CeO₂ materials have been successfully prepared by a nanocasting route, using mesoporous silica as a rigid template. X-ray diffraction, electron transmission microscopy and N₂ porosimetry characterization of the as-prepared products reveal a mesoporous structure composed of parallel arranged nanorods, with a large surface area and a narrow pore size distribution. The molecular structure and optical properties of the composite materials were investigated with Raman and UV-Vis/NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Catalytic results indicated that incorporation of CuO clusters in the CeO₂ lattice improved the photochemical properties. As a result, the CuO/CeO₂ composite catalyst containing ~38 wt % CuO reaches a high O₂ evolution rate of ~19.6 µmol·h⁻¹ (or 392 µmol·h⁻¹·g⁻¹) with an apparent quantum efficiency of 17.6% at λ = 365 ± 10 nm. This OER activity compares favorably with that obtained from the non-porous CuO/CeO₂ counterpart (~1.3 µmol·h⁻¹) and pure mesoporous CeO₂ (~1 µmol·h⁻¹).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.