Hydrogen production over Fe-doped tantalum oxide from an aqueous methanol solution under the light irradiation

Fe-doped mesoporous (Fe-m-Ta2O5) and non-porous bulk Ta2O5 (Fe-s-Ta2O5) were prepared with sol–gel and solid reaction methods, respectively. The physicochemical properties of the prepared materials were subjected to a combination of characterization, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectra, UV–vis spectra and N2 adsorption. It was demonstrated that Fe could be doped into the matrix of Ta2O5 by both the methods. The photocatalytic hydrogen production over two kinds of photocatalysts from an aqueous methanol solution was investigated. Comparative studies showed that the effects of Fe doping on the photocatalytic properties of the materials depended heavily on the morphology and crystallinity of the photocatalyst. The reason for this dependence has been discussed in detail.