Porous TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructures: Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic properties from nanosheets to sweetened rolls

- A novel photocatalyst of TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructure is reported.
- Utilize a porous TiB2-TiC composites with high surface areas as a precursor to fabricate 3D porous TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructures for organic contaminants degradation.
- The TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructures contained a wide variety of morphologies from nanosheet to sweetened roll, which exerted a significant influence on the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

Exposing high surface areas with porous materials and assembling heterostructures with chemical element doping represent a useful approach to producing high-performance photocatalysts. Porous TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructure, a new three-dimensional (3D) porous material with carbon and boron elements, was prepared in this study via alkali-assisted hydrothermal method followed by the in situ growth of porous TiB2-TiC material. The samples as-formed contain a wide variety of morphologies from nanosheet to sweetened roll, and exhibit dramatically enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange and rhodamine B compared to pure porous TiB2-TiC materials. The mechanisms for heterostructure formation and photocatalytic effect are analyzed to find that the heterostructures enhanced the separation of the photoinduced carriers, and that the morphological features of TiB2-TiC/TiO2 heterostructures exert a significant influence on the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

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