A Sustainable Strategy for the Synthesis of Pyrochlore H₄Nb₂O₇ Hollow Microspheres as Photocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting

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• 作者：Dr. Chao Zhou ; Dr. Run Shi ; Dr. Lu Shang ; Dr. Yufei Zhao ; Dr. Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse ; Prof. Li-Zhu Wu ; Prof. Chen-Ho Tung and Prof. Tierui Zhang
• 刊名：ChemPlusChem
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：82
• 期：2
• 页码：181-185
• 全文大小：805K
• ISSN：2192-6506

文摘

A facile and green process was developed for the synthesis of pyrochlore H₄Nb₂O₇ hollow microspheres by using hydrothermal treatment of Sn₂Nb₂O₇ hollow microspheres in aqueous 2 m HCl at 100–180 °C. The facile transformation of Sn₂Nb₂O₇ into H₄Nb₂O₇ is facilitated by the intrinsic ion-exchange capability of Sn₂Nb₂O₇. The resulting H₄Nb₂O₇ hollow microspheres (diameter 1–2 μm, shell thickness 100–200 nm) displayed excellent photocatalytic performance for overall water splitting under UV irradiation, affording H₂ and O₂ evolution rates of 240 and 116 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, respectively. Following decoration with 0.5 wt % Pt, the H₄Nb₂O₇ hollow microspheres demonstrated remarkably high H₂ and O₂ evolution rates of 1240 and 600 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, respectively. To our knowledge, this work is the first reported study examining the photocatalytic performance of H₄Nb₂O₇ for water splitting. The hydrothermal synthesis method described here is also applicable to the synthesis of pyrochlore H₄Ta₂O₇ from Sn₂Ta₂O₇, highlighting the versatility of the approach.