A breakthrough in rare earth-doped titanium oxide photocatalytic water decomposition to produce hydrogen

At present, there are two main ways to produce hydrogen from solar energy. One is to use solar cells to generate electricity and then electrolyze water, which is highly efficient but the equipment is complex and expensive; the other is to use sunlight to directly decompose water, that is, to use semiconductor materials such as titanium oxide to "one-click" decompose water molecules under sunlight.

When this special "photocatalytic material" is exposed to sunlight, it is hit by photons in the sunlight, and the "receiving station" excites electron-hole pairs that carry energy. However, traditional titanium dioxide has a fatal flaw, that is, these activated electrons and holes are like lost racing cars, running rampant inside the "maze" of the material, and most of them will recombine and annihilate within one millionth of a second.

A research team found that the key to solving the above problems lies in "element substitution" and "structural cosmetic surgery". Researchers chose rare earth scandium (Sc) as a "transformation engineer". Scandium has three "unique skills": first, the radius of scandium ions is similar to that of titanium, and it can be embedded in the crystal lattice without causing structural deformation; second, the stable valence state of scandium +3 can neutralize the charge imbalance caused by oxygen vacancies; third, scandium atoms can reconstruct the crystal atomic arrangement on the surface and obtain a specific crystal plane structure, thereby guiding photogenerated electrons and holes to run out of the "maze".

The photocatalytic material modified with scandium showed a leap in performance: the efficiency of photogenerated charge separation was increased by more than 200 times, and the quantum utilization rate of ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 360 nanometers exceeded 30%; under simulated sunlight, its hydrogen production efficiency was 15 times higher than the reported titanium dioxide, setting a new record for this material system; if it is made into a 100m2 photocatalytic plate, the hydrogen produced during one day of illumination can drive a hydrogen-powered car for 68 kilometers.

Suzhou KP Chemical Co., Ltd can provide related photocatalytic materials such as Titanium oxide, Rutile, Scandium metal, Scandium oxide，Scandium chloride hydrate, Scandium nitrate hydrate, Scandium acetate hydrate and Scandium carbonate hydrate. Please contact info@szkpchem.com or 086-18915544907.