Photonic Crystal Coupled TiO2/Polymer Hybrid for Efficient Photocatalysis under Visible Light Irradiation
- 13 April 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Environmental Science & Technology
- Vol. 44 (9), 3481-3485
- https://doi.org/10.1021/es903833f
Abstract
Inverse TiO2 opal photonic crystal coupled TiO2/poly(3-hexylthiophene) (bilayer TiO2/P3HT) was structured on FTO substrate for efficient photocatalysis under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). We expected that the photocatalytic capability of this hybrid photocatalyst could be enhanced by the efficient visible light absorption owing to the photonic crystal structure and effective charge separation owing to the unique heterojunction built between TiO2 and P3HT. The bilayer TiO2/P3HT photocatalyst was prepared first by depositing inverse TiO2 opal on FTO substrate via replicating polystyrene opal, followed by spin coating a layer of TiO2 nanoparticles on the inverse TiO2 opal. The as prepared bilayer TiO2 was modified by P3HT via dipping method. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) images demonstrated that the as prepared photocatalyst was composed of inverse TiO2 opal layer and TiO2 nanoparticles layer. The UV−vis diffuse reflectance spectra showed that the optical absorption for bilayer TiO2/P3HT was more intensive than for pristine TiO2 nanoparticle/P3HT (NP-TiO2/P3HT) in the range of 400−650 nm. The enhanced generation of photocurrent under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) was observed using the bilayer TiO2/P3HT. The results of photocatalytic experiments under visible light irradiation revealed that the pseudofirst-order kinetic constant of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using the bilayer TiO2/P3HT was 2.08 times as great as that using NP-TiO2/P3HT, showing the advantage of the unique structure in the bilayer TiO2/P3HT for efficient photocatalysis.Keywords
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