@article {49621,
	title = {Multifunctional NiO/Ti3+-TiO2 for concurrent water reduction and glycerol oxidation to value added products by sunlight driven photocatalysis},
	journal = {Journal of Materials Chemistry A},
	volume = {13},
	year = {2025},
	month = {JAN},
	pages = {2105-2120},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>
	The present work describes the synthesis of bifunctional-mesoporous-self-doped Ti3+ containing NiO/TiO2 photocatalysts for concurrent utilization of e- and h+ to produce H2 and value-added products (VAPs), respectively, from aqueous glycerol. UV-vis diffuse reflectance results and band gap analysis revealed an improved light absorption due to integration of Ni2+ with Ti3+/TiO2. Various electrochemical, PL and TRPL spectral analyses demonstrate p-n heterojunction formation between NiO and Ti3+-TiO2, which enhances charge separation and helps in achieving improved activity. HRTEM analysis of NiO/Ti3+-TiO2 nanocomposites revealed that NiO is highly dispersed on TiO2 with interfacial heterojunctions between them. XPS results demonstrate the partial reduction of Ti4+ to Ti3+ and Ni-Ti synergetic interaction in NiO/TiO2 to form NiO/Ti3+-TiO2 nanocomposites. EXAFS studies show that the Ni-O bond distance is similar to that of NiTiO3 suggesting electronic integration of components of the photocatalyst by forming a Ni2+-O-Ti3+/Ti4+ lattice network. Ni2+/Ti3+-TiO2 nanocomposites as a bifunctional photocatalyst exhibited significantly enhanced activity in H2 production and conversion of glycerol to VAPs, namely, glycolaldehyde, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, and formic acid; formation of these products highlights not only oxidation, but also C-C cleavage of glycerol. The NiO/Ti3+-TiO2 photocatalysts fabricated in thin film form displayed higher photocatalytic efficiency than their powder counterpart. Among NiO/Ti3+-TiO2 nanocomposites NiT-3 exhibits the highest H2 yield at 15.62 mmol h-1 g-1, which is 38 times higher than that of bare TiO2. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is ascribed to the high charge carrier density, the synergistic interaction between Ni2+ and Ti3+-TiO2, formation of a p-n heterojunction at the interface between NiO and Ti3+-TiO2 and effective utilization of charge carriers for redox reactions.</p>
},
	issn = {2050-7488},
	doi = {10.1039/d4ta06910b},
	author = {Rajendran, Sivaraj and Saju, Simi and Mani, Sunesh S. and Asoka, Anantha Krishnan and Saha, Arindam and Arun, Pushkaran S. and Ghosh, Biplab and Mathew, Thomas and Gopinath, Chinnakonda S.}
}
