A highly efficient, titanium dioxide based, visible light photocatalyst
We have developed a cost-effective, highly-efficient photocatalyst that is activated using visible light. Our catalyst has potential applications in decontamination and disinfection processes and manufacture of chemicals using renewable energy.
Our visible light catalyst has the potential to be used indoors and in areas of low sunlight, opening up new applications for photocatalytic products. Our catalyst also shows improved performance over the current industry standard, P25-TiO2, including higher visible light absorption, higher photocatalytic activity and higher solar energy conversion efficiency. Other advantages include the scalable and low-cost method of manufacturing
Photocatalysts have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in energy production (dye sensitized solar cells, hydrogen generation), decontamination and disinfection processes (air and water purification, self-cleaning and antibacterial surfaces) and production of chemicals (using renewable energy).
Photocatalysts are materials that harvest energy directly from light to promote chemical reactions. To date, the majority of photocatalytic products have been based on pure titanium dioxide (TiO2), which can only be activated by UV light thus limiting their applications to exterior use or with a UV light source.
We have developed a method to extend the absorption of TiO2 into the visible range, without compromising solar energy conversion efficiency, by cooperatively introducing cations (Niobium) and anions (Nitrogen) into TiO2. Unlike other methods of co-doping, our process allows the dopants to be introduced in balanced ratios as a ‘defect pair’ resulting in a synergistic and cooperative interaction thus avoiding the usual drawbacks of doping. Our method uses cheap and readily available raw materials and standard reaction conditions that are comparable to those currently used by industry for the synthesis of TiO2.
Our photocatalyst has been tested in the photo-degradation of three different model pollutants (methyl orange, rhodamine B and methylene blue) and shows superior performance over the current industry standard photocatalyst, P25-TiO2. The optical absorption is from λ=200 to 800 nm and the average particle size is <10 nm.
Licensing/ commercial development
30/08/2017 00:00:00
WO2018039701
B01J 21/06 • B01J 23/20 • B01J 27/24 • B01J 35/02 • B01J 37/00 • C01B 21/082 • C01G 23/04 • C01G 31/02 • C01G 33/00 • C01G 35/00
AU20160903458 [2016-08-30]
澳洲
