Design synthesis and photocatalytic evaluation of transition metal carbon nanotube modified nanotitania

Abstract

Over the past decades, there is tremendous research on photocatalysis newlineowing to its potential utility for sustainable development. The core newlinechallenge of this technology is the driving of photocatalytic reactions newlineunder visible light irradiation. TiO2 being an extraordinary versatile newlinematerial due to its environmentally benign nature and excellent newlinephotocatalytic properties, still continues to be the material of choice. newlineHowever, it s absorption exclusively in the UV region is a major newlinestumbling block in developing this material for economic and energy newlineefficient processes. newlineEver since the discovery, the carbon nanostructures (fullerene, newlinecarbon nanotubes and graphene) have attained immense attention due to newlinetheir outstanding mechanical and electrical properties. These materials are newlineprojected by the scientists to revolutionize all spheres of technology, newlineprimarily the electronics and material industry. Catalysis is an newlineinterdisciplinary science involving all branches of basic science, engineering newlineand technology, the waves of the aforementioned discovery led the catalyst newlinescientists to investigate their versatile properties in catalysis. There is an newlineexploding number of publications emerging on graphene in the past newlinedecade since it was the last discovered one. We strongly felt that its newlinepreceding material carbon nanotubes were ignored, during the course of newlinethe journey. The current study investigates the modification of TiO2 photocatalyst newlinewith multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). It presents the synthesis, newlinecharacterization and photocatalytic evaluation of MWCNT modified TiO2 newlinenanohybrids. We have attempted to thoroughly probe the application newlinepotential of MWCNTs in photocatalysis. In spite of the literature reports newlinebeing limited to few applications like pollutant degradation and hydrogen newlinegeneration, we have tried to explore the cocatalyst properties of newlineMWCNTs in photocatalytic selective organic transformations.