Hongyan Hu

Photocatalytic and photoelectric properties of cubic Ag3PO4 sub-microcrystals with sharp corners and edges

Herein, we demonstrate a complex-precipitation strategy for high-yield fabrication of single-crystalline Ag(3)PO(4) sub-microcubes with sharp corners, edges, and smooth surfaces, which exhibit much higher photocatalytic activities and photoelectric conversion properties than spherical Ag(3)PO(4) particles and commercial N-doped TiO(2) under visible light irradiation.

Selective growth of Ag3PO4 submicro-cubes on Ag nanowires to fabricate necklace-like heterostructures for photocatalytic applications

Selective growth of Ag3PO4 submicro-cubes on Ag nanowires to construct necklace-like hetero-photocatalysts has been demonstrated. This novel hetero-structure exhibits much higher activities than both pure Ag3PO4 cubes and Ag nanowires for degradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation, which may be primarily ascribed to highly efficient charge separation at the contact interfaces as well as rapid electron export through Ag nanowires.

Facile synthesis of tetrahedral Ag3PO4 submicro-crystals with enhanced photocatalytic properties

Tetrahedral Ag3PO4 submicro-crystals have been fabricated in high-yield by directly reacting commercial Ag foils with H2O2 and NaH2PO4 in aqueous solution at room temperature, which exhibit higher photocatalytic activities than Ag3PO4 cubes, particles, and N-doped TiO2 for the degradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation.

Selective Growth of Metallic Ag Nanocrystals on Ag3PO4 Submicro‐Cubes for Photocatalytic Applications

Thinking outside the box: The position- and number-selective growth of Ag nanocrystals on Ag(3)PO(4) submicro-cubes by an in situ reduction technique is demonstrated (see figure). These new Ag/Ag(3)PO(4) heterocubes exhibit higher photocatalytic activities than pure Ag(3)PO(4) cubes for the degradation of organic dyes under visible-light irradiation.

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag/Ag3PO4 coaxial hetero-nanowires

Herein, we demonstrate a facile and general process for fabricating uniform and perfect Ag/Ag3PO4 core–shell coaxial hetero-nanowires at room temperature, which exhibit excellent photocatalytic activities for degradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation.

Synergistic effects of SrTiO3 nanocubes and Ti3+ dual-doping for highly improved photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 nanotube arrays under visible light

We demonstrate that the hetero-coupling of SrTiO3 nanocubes on TiO2 nanotube arrays and Ti3+ dual-doping on both SrTiO3 and TiO2 could not only extend their photoresponse from the UV to visible light region, but also facilitate efficient charge separation and transfer between SrTiO3−x and TiO2−x. Moreover, their synergistic effects could substantially improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance for water oxidation under visible light irradiation, which is 40 times higher than the PEC capabilities of pristine TiO2 arrays under the same conditions.

Fabrication of Ag3PO4–PAN composite nanofibers for photocatalytic applications

Necklace-like Ag3PO4–polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hetero-nanofibers have been successfully fabricated through a simple and facile electrospinning technique and exhibit excellent photocatalytic activities for the degradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation.

Fabrication and behaviors of CdS on Bi2MoO6 thin film photoanodes

Most Bi-based photoelectrodes have suitable band gaps and can effectively promote hydrogen evolution from water splitting, but there are few studies up to now for simple preparation methods for Bi-based binary metal oxides as photoanodes. Here, we prepared a novel Bi2MoO6 thin film photo-anode without a template; our preparation methods of Bi-based binary metal oxides with controlled morphologies were conducted by growing the Bi2MoO6 directly on an electrical substrate via an in situ growth process. The photoanodes show well-shaped thin film morphologies and exhibit impressive photoelectrochemical properties compared to the Bi-based photoanodes synthesized by conventional methods. A 2× enhanced photocurrent was obtained when the Bi2MoO6 thin film photoanodes were modified with CdS in comparison with the primary Bi2MoO6 (about 0.85 mA cm−2) under identical conditions. The enhanced photoelectrochemical properties were studied using several techniques including SEM, XRD, XPS, UV-vis diffuse reflectance, etc. and the results were in good agreement with each other. Moreover, the Bi2MoO6 thin film photoanodes possess long-term stability under solar irradiation and show a considerable photocurrent.

Enhanced photocatalytic properties of biomimetic Ag/AgCl heterostructures

Hierarchical Ag/AgCl hetero-structures have been fabricated in high-yield by copying the natural architecture of branches with green leaves, and exhibit higher photocatalytic activities than Ag/AgCl nanowires, AgCl nanoparticles, Ag nanowires, and N-doped TiO2 for the degradation of organic contaminants under visible light irradiation.

Promotion of the excited electron transfer over Ni- and Co -sulfide co-doped g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst (g-C 3 N 4 /Ni x Co 1−x S 2 ) for hydrogen Production under visible light irradiation

A Ni- and Co- sulfide co-doped g-C3N4 photocatalyst (g-C3N4/NixCo1−xS2) was prepared by hydrothermal method and this photocatalyst, namely, g-C3N4/NixCo1−xS2 shown excellent photocatalytic properties due to the special structure of Ni-Co-S with boundary different exposure to active site of transition metal-metal (Ni-Co) active planes. With the introduction of Co atoms, the H2 production amount reached the maximum about 400.81 μmol under continuous visible light irradiation for 4 hours based on the efficiently charge separation and greatly improved electron transfer resulted from the presence of sufficient active exposure at the boundary. The serial studies shown that the existence of Ni-Co-S structure over g-C3N4 active surface is the key factor of activity affections by means of several characterizations such as SEM, XRD, XPS diffuse reflectance etc. and the results of which were in good agreement with each other. A possible reaction mechanism over eosin Y-sensitized g-C3N4/NixCo1−xS2 photocatalyst under visible light irradiation was proposed.