10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08663.s001
Denghui Jiang
Denghui
Jiang
Ziran Liu
Ziran
Liu
Liangjie Fu
Liangjie
Fu
Huihua Jing
Huihua
Jing
Huaming Yang
Huaming
Yang
Efficient Nanoclay-Based Composite Photocatalyst:
The Role of Nanoclay in Photogenerated Charge Separation
American Chemical Society
2018
theory calculations show
photogenerated charge separation efficiency
iron-rich kaolinite clay
Photogenerated Charge Separation Natural clay mineral
hydroxyl groups
photocatalyst
kaolinite nanosheets exhibit
charge carrier separation
oxygen adsorption capacity
II
CdS
photocatalytic
Efficient Nanoclay-Based Composite Photocatalyst
2018-10-25 00:00:00
Journal contribution
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Efficient_Nanoclay-Based_Composite_Photocatalyst_The_Role_of_Nanoclay_in_Photogenerated_Charge_Separation/7302362
Natural
clay mineral is a low-cost support for photocatalytic materials,
but it exhibits insulating properties determined by intrinsic compositions
of aluminosilicate, which normally makes it difficult to participate
in the charge carrier separation and transfer of the photocatalytic
system. Herein, natural iron-rich kaolinite clay with photoresponse
is used as a multifunctional support to construct a CdS composite
photocatalyst, and we find that the natural kaolinite nanosheets exhibit
strong oxygen adsorption capacity by hydroxyl groups and could enhance
the charge carrier separation. Density functional theory calculations
show that the hydroxyl groups of kaolinite could effectively adsorb
oxygen via hydrogen bonding, and the absorbed water further promotes
the adsorption of oxygen. Because of these special properties, the
kaolinite nanosheets not only directly improved photogenerated charge
separation efficiency by a type II staggered band structure of heterostructures
but also promoted the production of superoxide radicals via providing
an oxygen-rich microenvironment, which resulted in the greatly enhanced
photocatalytic performance of CdS nanoparticles. This work could provide
a deeper understanding of the role of the iron-rich natural clay mineral
as a photocatalytic support and shed light on the design of clay-based
composite photocatalysts.