Titanium Dioxide Photonic Crystals with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity: Matching Photonic Band Gaps of TiO2 to the Absorption Peaks of Dyes

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• 作者：Xiuzhen Zheng ; Sugang Meng ; Jing Chen ; Jinxiu Wang ; Jiangjun Xian ; Yu Shao ; Xianzhi Fu ; Danzhen Li
• 刊名：Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：October 17, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：117
• 期：41
• 页码：21263-21273
• 全文大小：731K
• 年卷期：v.117,no.41(October 17, 2013)
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

Photonic crystals have attracted extensive interest for the potential applications in manipulating light by nontraditional ways based on photonic band structure concepts. In this paper, 3D inverse-opal TiO₂ photonic crystals (TiO₂-PCs) with designed photonic band gaps are prepared. It is worth noting that when the photonic band gaps of the TiO₂-PCs are matched with the absorption peaks of the dyes (methyl orange, rhodamine B, and methylene blue), the photocatalytic activity of the corresponding sample is improved under simulated solar light (320 nm < 位 < 800 nm) and visible light (420 nm < 位 < 800 nm) irradiation. The enhancement could be attributed to the intensified dye sensitization as a result of slow photon effect on the edges of the photonic band gaps. Furthermore, the TiO₂-PCs exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity and stability than TiO₂ nanoparticle film. It is believed that the presence of inverse opal structure plays an essential role in affecting the dye sensitization and photoreactivity, which could provide valuable information on the design of photocatalysts and set the foundation for the future environmental and energy technologies.