Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong Universtity

Performance of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production by Splitting Water over Metal-Loaded Cr₂O₃-TiO₂ Catalysts
Xing Chanjuan, Yan Wei, Zhang Yaojun, Guo Liejin
(State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China)

Abstract: A kind of Cr₂O₃-TiO₂ photocatalyst was prepared via sol-gel method based on Tetrabutyl titanate reacting with ammonium chromate, and loaded with Fe, Mn, Mo to form M-Cr₂O₃-TiO₂ catalysts. The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, BET and Uv¡MVis spectra. The XRD spectrum shows that TiO₂ is in the form of rutile and Cr₂O₃ is in the structure of eskolaite. These photocatalysts can produce H₂ photocatalytically by splitting water under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. The results of hydrogen production indicate that the metal-loaded catalysts facilitate improving the photocatalytic activity and Mo-Cr₂O₃-TiO₂ manifests the highest activity under ultraviolet light irradiation, and photocatalytic activity is slightly decreased under visible light irradiation.
Keywords: Cr₂O₃-TiO₂; metal-loaded catalysis; photocatalytic hydrogen production