Photocatalytic activity and the electron transport mechanism of titanium dioxide microsphere/porphyrin implanted with small size copper

Abstract

To obtain efficient photocatalysts by coupling architectures, developing novel materials and elucidating the charge transport mechanism at the semiconductor interface are vital. Herein, a special nanocomposite (TiO₂ microsphere/CuNPs/THPP) for photocatalytic hydrogen production was facilely fabricated with copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) as the interfacial linker of the TiO₂ microspheres and meso-tetra(p-hydroxypheny)porphyrin (THPP). The assembly mode of the nanocomposite was studied in detail. It was found that the CuNPs implanted at the interface of the TiO₂ microspheres and THPP can dramatically strengthen the interaction between the TiO₂ microspheres and THPP, and improve the separation and transfer of photo-produced charges. Therefore, the nanocomposite displayed excellent performance for photocatalytic hydrogen production. Moreover, by recycling hydrogen production, it is demonstrated that the nanocomposite was a highly efficient and long-term stable photocatalyst. By investigating the energy band location and the charge transfer, the photocatalytic mechanism over the special nanocomposite was explored and proposed to explain the better activity of the TiO₂ microsphere/CuNPs/THPP photocatalytic system. It will be helpful to provide deep insights into the construction of efficient photocatalytic systems.