Synthesis and characterization of Ni-Cu and Ni-Pd incorporated aluminium titanate (Al2TiO5) nanocomposites and their application in photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

Ni-Cu and Ni-Pd decorated aluminotitanate (Al2TiO5) nanocomposites have been synthesized by co-precipitation using ammonia gas diffusion method at room temperature followed by drying, calcination and grinding. With the help of techniques such as drop casting and spin coating, FTO substrates based thin films were obtained and tested for photoelectrochemical splitting of water utilizing light acquired from solar sources. The synthesized metal decorated nanocomposites have been characterized by BET, X-ray diffraction and UV-vis analysis. The surface morphology and elemental composition of the nanocomposites has been determined by electron microscopy, and X-ray energy scattering spectroscopic analysis. The energy of band gap is calculated as 2.36eV for Ni-Pd@Al2TiO5 and 2.51eV, 3.38 eV for Ni-Cu@Al2TiO5 thin films. The water splitting activity of catalysts was measured by LSV in a three electrode system having neon lamp as a source of illumination. The possibility of multiple inorganic nanocomposite photocatalysts synthesis is proved to be attainable through this study for increased stability and better solar light capturing.