A new In₂O₃ and NiO co-loaded fly ash-based nanostructural geopolymer for photocatalytic H₂ evolution

ABSTRACT

A nanostructural alkali-activated fly ash-based geopolymer (AFAG) by co-loaded bimetallic oxide semiconductors of In₂O₃ and NiO were firstly synthesized and used as an excellent nanocatalyst for production of hydrogen by water splitting. XRD results revealed that In₂O₃ with average particle size of about 14 nm and NiO in the form of amorphous phase dispersed on the surface of AFAG support. UV-vis DRS and photoluminescence spectra showed that the 5In₂O₃-NiO/AFAG sample has the widest response to sunlight spectrum and the weakest photoluminescence spectrum, respectively. The 5In₂O₃-NiO/AFAG sample exhibits the excellent photocatalytic activity of H₂ evolution of 3180 µmol/g under the irradiation of solar simulation source for 6 h due to its mesoporous structure coupled with In₂O₃ and NiO.

KEYWORDS:

• Fly ash-based geopolymer
• nano-oxide semiconductors
• In₂O₃ and NiO
• nanocatalyst
• hydrogen production

Funding

This study was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21346011 and No. 21676209), the Key Project of Natural Science foundation Research Plan of Shaanxi Province (No. 2013JZ014), and the Key Scientific Research Project of Natural Science in Education Department of Shaanxi Province (No. 16JS055).