Microwave synthesised Pd–TiO2 for photocatalytic ammonia production |
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| Authors: | Jake M. Walls Jagdeep S. Sagu K. G. Upul Wijayantha |
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| Affiliation: | Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU UK, |
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| Abstract: | Palladium doped anatase TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesised by a rapid (3 min) one-pot microwave synthesis technique at low temperature and pressure. After being fully characterised by SEM, XRD, Raman, XPS and EDX, photocatalytic nitrate reduction and ammonia production were studied over various dopant levels between 0–3.97 wt% Pd and compared to similar previous literature. Improved yields of ammonia were observed with most dopant levels when compared to non-doped microwave synthesised TiO2 with 2.65 wt% found to be the optimum dopant level producing 21.2 μmol NH3. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of TiO2 and Pd–TiO2 photoelectrodes revealed improvements in charge transfer characteristics at high Pd dopant levels.A rapid 3 minute one-pot microwave synthesis of Pd–TiO2 showing improved activity for photocatalytic nitrate reduction into ammonia. |
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