Controllable Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties Study of Na2Ti3O7 and H2Ti3O7 Nanotubes with High Exposed Facet (010)

The role of replacing Na+ with H+ of titanate in promoting photocatalytic performance was investigated. The experimental results showed that H2Ti3O7 and Na2Ti3O7 catalysts with the same high exposed (010) facet had the similar light absorption capacity, TiO6 octahedral structure, and specific surface area. By comparing to Na2Ti3O7, H2Ti3O7 had longer lifetime and higher separation efficiency of the photo-generated electron hole pairs, and also had higher density of surface oxygen vacancies, which resulted in the excellent performances for photocatalytic hydrogen production and dye degradation reactions.