Jibao Lu

Composition Dependence of the Photocatalytic Activities of BiOCl1−xBrx Solid Solutions under Visible Light

We prepared BiOCl(1-x)Br(x) (x=0-1) solid solutions and characterized their structures, morphologies, and photocatalytic properties by X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, photocurrent and photocatalytic activity measurements and also by density functional theory calculations for BiOCl, BiOBr, BiOCl(0.5)Br(0.5). Under visible-light irradiation BiOCl(1-x)Br(x) exhibits a stronger photocatalytic activity than do BiOCl and BiOBr, with the activity reaching the maximum at x=0.5 and decreasing gradually as x is increased toward 1 or decreased toward 0. This trend is closely mimicked by the photogenerated current of BiOCl(1-x)Br(x) , indicating that the enhanced photocatalytic activity of BiOCl(1-x)Br(x) with respect to those of BiOCl and BiOBr originates from the trapping of photogenerated carriers. Our electronic structure calculations for BiOCl(0.5)Br(0.5) with the anion (O(2-), Cl(-), Br(-)) and cation (Bi(3+)) vacancies suggest that the trapping of photogenerated carriers is caused most likely by Bi(3+) cation vacancies, which generate hole states above the conduction band maximum.

Hierarchical TiO2 Microspheres: Synergetic Effect of {001} and {101} Facets for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Well-faceted nanocrystals of anatase TiO(2) with specific reactive facets have attracted extraordinary research interest due to their many intrinsic shape-dependent properties. In this work, hierarchical TiO(2) microspheres consisting of anatase nanosheets or decahedrons were synthesized by means of a facile hydrothermal technique; meanwhile, the percentage of {001} facets can be tuned from 82 to 45%. Importantly, by investigating the photo-oxidation reactions for ˙OH radical generation and photoreduction reactions for hydrogen evolution, the TiO(2) microspheres consisting of nano-decahedrons with 45% {001} facets show superior photoreactivity (more than 4.8-times) compared to the nanosheets with 82% {001} facets. By analyzing the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a model of charge separation between the well-formed {001} and {101} facets is proposed, and the enhanced photocatalytic efficiency is largely attributed to the efficient separation of photogenerated charges among the crystal facets co-exposed.

Effective increasing of optical absorption and energy conversion efficiency of anatase TiO2 nanocrystals by hydrogenation

Disorder-engineered nanophase anatase TiO(2) through hydrogenation has been demonstrated to exhibit substantial solar-driven photocatalytic activities [X. Chen, L. Liu, P. Y. Yu, S. S. Mao, Science, 2011, 331, 746], while the detailed image of the disorder is unclear, and the role of the hydrogenation as well as the mechanism of high photoactivity is still ambiguous. Based on first-principles calculations, we find by taking into account the synergic effect of Ti-H and O-H bonds that hydrogen atoms can be chemically absorbed both on Ti(5c) and O(2c) atoms for (101), (001), and (100) surfaces, while previous studies predicted that chemical absorption of H on both Ti(5c) and O(2c) only takes place on the (001) surface due to overlooking the synergic effect. The hydrogenation induces obvious lattice distortions on (101) and (100) surfaces of nanoparticles enhancing the intraband coupling within the valence band, while the (001) surface is not largely affected. Different from the previous understanding that the lattice disorder accounts for the induced mid-gap states while the hydrogen only stabilizes the lattice disorders by passivating their dangling bonds, we find that the adatoms not only induce the lattice disorders but also interact strongly with the Ti 3d and O 2p states, resulting in a considerable contribution to the mid-gap states. The optical absorption is dramatically red shifted due to the mid-gap states and the photogenerated electron-hole separation is substantially promoted as a result of electron-hole flow between different facets of hydrogenated nanoparticles, which may account for the exceptional high energy conversion efficiency under solar irradiation. Even more interestingly, we find that hydrogenation reverses the redox behavior of different surfaces of nanoparticles, which provides new hints that one can tune the photoexcited electron-hole flow between different surfaces of nanoparticles in accordance to ones request by appropriate chemical surface treatment. We believe that band-offset-engineering between different facets of nanocrystals can be an effective way to facilitate energy conversion efficiency and should be applicable to other nanophase materials.

Chemical and optical properties of carbon-doped TiO2: A density-functional study

The conflict of understandings on experimental results about chemical and optical properties of C-doped TiO2, which has been overlooked for a long time but is essential for studies of the basic properties of this material, is unraveled. It is shown that in anatase TiO2 the doped C and O atoms can easily couple with each other at typical synthesis conditions due to the large binding energy and small energy barrier, while in rutile phase, the coupling can hardly occur. The characteristics of the structures are elaborated in detail, which provides insights into the chemical, optical, and magnetic properties of C-doped TiO2.

Structure and Electronic Properties and Phase Stabilities of the Cd1−xZnxS Solid Solution in the Range of 0≤x≤1

As an excellent bandgap-engineering material, the Cd(1-x)Zn(x)S solid solution, is found to be an efficient visible light response photocatalyst for water splitting, but few theoretical studies have been performed on it. A better characterization of the composition dependence of the physical and optical properties of this material and a thorough understanding of the bandgap-variation mechanism are necessary to optimize the design of high-efficience photocatalysts. In order to get an insight into these problems, we systematically investigated the crystal structure, the phase stability, and the electronic structures of the Cd(1-x)Zn(x)S solid solution by means of density functional theory calculations. The most energetically favorable arrangement of the Cd, Zn, S atoms and the structural disorder of the solid solution are revealed. The phase diagram of the Cd(1-x)Zn(x)S solid solution is calculated based on regular-solution model and compared with the experimental data. This is the first report on the calculated phase diagram of this solid solution, and can give guidance for the experimental synthesis of this material. Furthermore, the variation of the electronic structures versus x and its mechanism are elaborated in detail, and the experimental bandgap as a function of x is well predicted. Our findings provide important insights into the experimentally observed structural and electronic properties, and can give theoretical guidelines for the further design of the Cd(1-x)Zn(x)S solid solution.

Density Functional Characterization of Pure and Alkaline Earth Metal‐Doped Bi12GeO20, Bi12SiO20, and Bi12TiO20 Photocatalysts

Bi12MxO20±δ (hereafter BMO; M=Ti, Si, Ge) materials, which have been used as ferroelectric materials, actuators, capacitors, and dielectric and photorefractive materials, have attracted attention as photocatalysts and exhibit high photocatalytic activities in many reactions. However, seldom has work been performed on the geometric and electronic properties of the BMO structures and little is known about the effect of alkaline earth metal (AE) doping on them. In this study, the pure and AE‐doped BMO structures are investigated systematically for the first time by performing first‐principles calculations. The electronic structures of the three BMO species show that they should have high diffusion and low recombination rates of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Alkaline earth ions could easily be doped into the three BMO structures under O‐rich growth conditions, and the doping red‐shifts the absorption edge of the BMO with its reduction ability unchanged. These new AE‐doped materials could be excellent candidates for visible‐light‐activated photocatalysis.

Effect of Electronegativity and Charge Balance on the Visible-Light-Responsive Photocatalytic Activity of Nonmetal Doped Anatase TiO2

The origin of visible light absorption and photocatalytic activity of nonmetal doped anatase TiO2 were investigated in details in this work based on density functional theory calculations. Our results indicate that the electronegativity is of great significance in the band structures, which determines the relative positions of impurity states induced by the doping species, and further influences the optical absorption and photocatalytic activities of doped TiO2. The effect of charge balance on the electronic structure was also discussed, and it was found that the charge-balance structures may be more efficient for visible light photocatalytic activities. In addition, the edge positions of conduction band and valence band, which determine the ability of a semiconductor to transfer photoexcited electrons to species adsorbed on its surface, were predicted as well. The results may provide a reference to further experimental studies.

Topological phase transition and unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermion in TlBi(S1−xSex)2

Based on first-principles calculations and effective Hamiltonian analysis, we predict a topological phase transition from normal to topological insulators and the opening of a gap without breaking the time-reversal symmetry in TlBi(S1−xSex)2. The transition can be driven by modulating the Se concentration, and the rescaled spin-orbit coupling and lattice parameters are the key ingredients for the transition. For topological surface states, the Dirac cone evolves differently as the explicit breaking of inversion symmetry and the energy band can be opened under asymmetry surface. Our results present theoretical evidence for experimental observations [Xu et al., Science 332, 560 (2011); Sato et al., Nat. Phys. 7, 840 (2011)].

The Synthetic Effects of Iron with Sulfur and Fluorine on Photoabsorption and Photocatalytic Performance in Codoped

The structural and electronic properties of iron-fluorine (Fe-F) and iron-sulfur (Fe-S) codoped anatase TiO2 are investigated by first-principles based on density functional theory. Our results show that the formation energy of codoped system is lower than that of single-element doping, which indicates the synergic effect of codoping on the stability of the structure. Codopants introduced impurity gap states resulting in the electron transition energy reduction and thus the visible light absorption observed in the samples. It is concluded that Fe-S should be a better codoping pair because Fe-S codoping introduces extended impurity states resulting in stronger visible light absorption than that of Fe-F codoped compounds. This work gives understanding to the recent experiment and provides the evidence of choosing the more effective co-dopants in TiO2.