A highly active bi-crystalline photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 (B) nanotube and anatase particle for producing H2 gas from neat ethanol

Sodium titanate nanotubes (NaTNTs) are converted into monoclinic TiO2 (B) nanotubes by rinsing with 0.10 M HCl followed by drying at 573 K. As calcination temperature is increased to 673 K, these TiO2 (B) nanotubes start to transform into anatase nanoparticles producing a bi-crystalline mixture consisting of TiO2 (B) nanotubes and anatase nanoparticles. The primary particle size of the anatase particles was estimated to be around 10 nm using Scherrer equation. After being promoted with 1% Pt, this bi-crystalline material becomes a very active photocatalyst producing 20% more H2 gas than 1% Pt/Degussa P-25 TiO2 in the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of neat ethanol after 2 h of UV light irradiation.