7 / 31
Page 75
Notes:
April 16-17, 2018 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
2
nd
Edition of
Graphene & Semiconductors | Diamond Graphite & Carbon Materials Conference
6
th
Edition of
Smart Materials & Structures Conference
&
Journal of Material Sciences and Engineering| ISSN: 2169-0022 | GDCSM-2018 | Volume: 7
Copper Sulfide Nanodot Decorated TiO
2
Nanotube for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation from
Water
W. LIU, E. HA, L. WANG, G. ZHENG, L. HU, L.Y.S. LEE, K.-Y.WONG
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
H
ydrogen energy presents an ideal alternative to fossil fuels in the future because of its high energy capacity, environmental
friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. To date, much attention has been devoted to one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor
nanomaterials for hydrogen generation due to its stability, catalytic activity and simple fabrication. 1D semiconductor material
such as TiO
2
nanotube (TNT) shows potential as a solar photocatalyst for hydrogen generation by its large surface area and
superior charge transport property. However, some problems such as large band gap (3.3-3.8 eV) and high recombination
rate of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs limits the solar application of TiO
2
as a photocatalyst. Particularly, sensitizer
decoration offers an effective strategy to improve the activity of photocatalyst for solar application by extending the photo-
response and promoting the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Recently, copper sulfide (Cu
x
S, x is the undefined
stoichiometric ratio) family has emerged as a class of effective sensitizers for semiconductor nanomaterials to improve
hydrogen generation reaction. The Cu
x
S family offers a wide spectrum of derivatives, which are attractive due to their wide
absorption band and low reflectance in the visible range, making them promising candidates for solar energy-harvesting. The
Cu
x
S nanodots (NDs) attached TNTs are fabricated by wet chemistry technique at mild conditions. The morphologies, crystal
phase, and optical properties as well as the photocatalytic behavior of the resulted Cu
x
S/TNT are elaborately investigated.
The results demonstrated that the Cu
x
S ND/TNT offers a cost-effective and stable photocatalyst comparable with noble metal
decorated TNT for efficient hydrogen generation from water.
Biography
Liu is now pursuing his PhD degree at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is involved in re-
search projects related to photocatalysis, semiconductor nanomaterial and related characterizations, funded by University Grant Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong.
He has published several research papers in international peer-reviewed journals such as
J. Phys. Chem. C, Electrochim. Acta, J. Chin. Polym. Sci., Sci. China
Chem., Sci. Rep.,
etc.
patrick.simultaneously@gmail.comW. LIU et al., J Material Sci Eng 2018, Volume: 7
DOI: 10.4172/2169-0022-C3-098