Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

作者：Krueger Stefanie; Schwarze Michael; Baumann Otto; Guenter Christina; Bruns Michael; Kuebel Christian; Szabo Dorothee Vinga; Meinusch Rafael; Bermudez Veronica de Zea; Taubert Andreas

来源：Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 2018, 9: 187-204.

DOI：10.3762/bjnano.9.21

<jats:p>The synthesis, structure, and photocatalytic water splitting performance of two new titania (TiO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>)/gold(Au)/<jats:italic>Bombyx mori</jats:italic> silk hybrid materials are reported. All materials are monoliths with diameters of up to ca. 4.5 cm. The materials are macroscopically homogeneous and porous with surface areas between 170 and 210 m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>/g. The diameter of the TiO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> nanoparticles (NPs) – mainly anatase with a minor fraction of brookite – and the Au NPs are on the order of 5 and 7–18 nm, respectively. Addition of poly(ethylene oxide) to the reaction mixture enables pore size tuning, thus providing access to different materials with different photocatalytic activities. Water splitting experiments using a sunlight simulator and a Xe lamp show that the new hybrid materials are effective water splitting catalysts and produce up to 30 mmol of hydrogen per 24 h. Overall the article demonstrates that the combination of a renewable and robust scaffold such as <jats:italic>B. mori</jats:italic> silk with a photoactive material provides a promising approach to new monolithic photocatalysts that can easily be recycled and show great potential for application in lightweight devices for green fuel production.</jats:p>

• 出版日期2018-1-17