Band-Gap Engineering of Layered Transition Metal Oxides and their Photocatalytic Properties

  • Lianzhou Wang, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Mr Gang Liu, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Ms Xiaoxia Yan, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Mr A Mukherji, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Dr Fengqiu Tang, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Prof GQ Lu, ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia

    • The global concern over the declining fossil fuels and global warming has seen great efforts being directed toward the development of new energy generation /conversion systems. Innovative materials for energy conversion hold the key for renewable energy production. The ability to design these nanomaterials with tailored structures and functionalised properties is an important challenge that researchers strive to meet. Aimed at developing new nanostructures for visible light driven photcatalytic air/water pollutant decomposition and photo-current generation, we have recently developed the synthesis, band-gap modification, exfoliation and re-assembly of several types of layered transition metal oxides including titanate and niobate-based pervoskites. The successful exfoliation of these layered structures led to the formation of colloidal suspensions containing paper-like individual metal oxide nanosheets. These unique nanosheets can be surface and/or structural modified into ideal two-dimensional building blocks for new nano-architecture fabrication. The layer-by-layer self-assembly and flocculation of nanosheets via electrostatic interaction led to multilayer ultrathin films and restacked nanoporous structures. These newly-developed nanostructures showed excellent visible light photocatalytic performance and promising electrochemical conversion activities.