Nitrogen-Doped Anatase Nanofibers Decorated with Noble Metal Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic Production of Hydrogen

We report the synthesis of N-doped TiO(2) nanofibers and high photocatalytic efficiency in generating hydrogen from ethanol water mixtures under UV-A and UV-B irradiation. Titanate nanofibers synthesized by hydrothermal method are annealed in air and/or ammonia to achieve N-doped anatase fibers. Depending on the synthesis route, either interstitial N atoms or new N-Ti bonds appear in the lattice, resulting in slight lattice expansion as shown by XPS and HR-TEM analysis, respectively. These nanofibers were then used as support for Pd and Pt nanoparticies deposited with wet impregnation followed by calcination and reduction. In the hydrogen generation tests, the N-doped samples were clearly outperforming their undoped counterparts, showing remarkable efficiency not only under UV-B but also with UV-A illumination, When 100 mg of catalyst (N-doped TiO(2) nanofiber decorated with Pt nanoparticles) was applied to 1 L of water ethanol mixture, the H(2) evolution rates were as high as mu mol/h (UV-A) and 2250, mu mol/h (UV-B) corresponding to photo energy conversion percentages of similar to 3.6 and similar to 12.3%, respectively.