Fabrication of Cu2O/MTiO3 (M = Ca, Sr and Ba) p-n heterojunction for highly enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2023-01, Vol.930, p.167333, Article 167333
• Main Authors: Yang, Junfeng, Yang, Hanyu, Dong, Yanhui, Cui, Hao, Sun, Hang, Yin, Shengyan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Barium titanates; Calcium titanate; Composite materials; Copper oxides; Cu2O/MTiO3 composites; Heterojunctions; Hydrogen generation; Hydrogen production; Nanoparticles; P-n heterojunction; P-n junctions; Performance tests; Photocatalysis; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectricity; Polyvinylpyrrolidone; Strontium
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.167333

Herein, a binary Cu2O/MTiO3 (M = Ca, Sr and Ba) p-n heterojunction composites are successfully designed and prepared by the hydrothermal method and following NaBH4 reduction treatment. With the help of ethanediol and polyvinylpyrrolidone, it is found that Cu2O nanoparticles (NPs) can disperse evenly on the surface of CaTiO3. Excitingly, the highest H2 production rate (HPR) of the Cu2O/CaTiO3 samples is up to 8.268 mmol g−1 h−1, which is about 344.5 times as high as that of CaTiO3 sample under the same conditions. Compared with pure CaTiO3, the photoelectric chemical performance tests manifest that photocurrent density the of Cu2O/CaTiO3 composite increases and the interface resistance decreases. These results manifest that the construction of p-n heterojunction in Cu2O/CaTiO3 sample can improve the separation and migration rates of photogenerated carrier pairs, thus accelerating the generation of H2. Additionally, the Cu2O/CaTiO3 exhibits the best HPR as compared to Cu2O/SrTiO3 and Cu2O/BaTiO3 composites, which may be attributed to the more active sites in hollow CaTiO3. This work reports a viable strategy to fabricate the Cu2O/MTiO3 p-n heterojunction, which can overcome the boundedness of single Cu2O or MTiO3 in photocatalytic performance. [Display omitted] •The Cu2O/MTiO3 composites were successfully designed and prepared for the first time.•P-n heterojunction can promote the separation of photogenerated carriers pairs.•Cu2O/CaTiO3 exhibited the highest hydrogen production rate among Cu2O/MTiO3 composites.