(260aj) Co-Catalysts Incorporated Perovskites Nanofiber for Water Splitting Photocatalysis 

 Md Moniruddin and Nurxat Nuraje

Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX, USA

Perovskite materials have tremendous potential for photocatalysis and photovoltaic applications due to many advantageous properties including its low cost, high availability, chemical stability, and excellent opto-electronic properties. Therefore, they have been widely investigated for hydrogen production from photocatalytic water splitting using solar energy. In this study, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) nanofibers were prepared via electro spinning method using the solution of strontium titanium alkoxide and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Different co-catalysts such as noble metal (Pt), plasmonic metal (Au) and metal oxide (NiO) were deposited on the synthesized SrTiO₃ nanofibers by using photo deposition and impregnation method. The nanofibers were then characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopic with energy dispersive spectroscopic observations, X-ray diffraction patterns, BET surface area measurements, and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The photocatalytic performance of the synthesized SrTiO₃ nanofibers is being tested for hydrogen production from water splitting using a solar simulator. To further improve the visible light activities, SrTiO₃ nanofibers will be doped with nitrogen. High photocatalytic activities of these SrTiO₃ nanofibers are expected due to its small crystallite size, high crystallinity, mesoporous nanofiber structure, large surface area, and enhanced visible light absorption. The effects of different types of co-catalysts and N-doping on the photocatalytic performance of the SrTiO₃ nanofibers will be discussed.