PdO/TiO₂ and Pd/TiO₂ Heterostructured Nanobelts with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Abstract Heterostructures play an important role not only in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, but also in the field of catalysis. Herein, we report the synthesis of PdO/TiO 2 and Pd/TiO 2 heterostructured nanobelts by means of a simple co‐precipitation method, followed by a reduction process using surface‐modified TiO 2 nanobelts as templates. The as‐obtained heterostructures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. PdO and Pd nanoparticles with a size of about 1.3 and 1.6 nm were assembled uniformly on the surface of TiO 2 nanobelts, respectively. Compared with TiO 2 nanobelts, PdO/TiO 2 and Pd/TiO 2 hybrid nanobelts exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity upon UV and visible‐light irradiation. Photoelectrochemical technology was used to study the heterostructure effect on enhanced photocatalytic activity. Our mechanistic investigation revealed that energy‐band matching is the major factor in the observed enhancement of photocatalytic activity.