Zhang Jian, Liu Xiaoheng
Key Laboratory of Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210094, China.
Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2014 May 14;16(18):8655-60. doi: 10.1039/c4cp00084f.
Attapulgite (ATP), not only as a type of natural and low cost silicate clay mineral but also as a high quality nanosized material with large surface area, layered and lath-like structure, has been found to have a wide variety of industrial applications. The ideal composition of ATP is Mg5Si8O20(OH)2(OH2)4. However, according to previous reports from different countries in the world, it is very important for our research that the actual composition of ATP varies because of partial replacement of magnesium by aluminum, iron, titanium and other elements. Herein, we have successfully used this dye sensitized clay mineral (raw and purified) to effectively reduce water for hydrogen generation under visible light irradiation. Further chemical analysis as well as computational simulation (CS) proposed that the natural Fe-doping (two ATP crystal cells sharing one Fe atom) can promote the photocatalytic process.
凹凸棒石（ATP）不仅是一种天然且低成本的硅酸盐粘土矿物，还是一种具有大表面积、层状和板条状结构的高质量纳米材料，已被发现具有广泛的工业应用。ATP的理想成分为Mg5Si8O20(OH)2(OH2)4。然而，根据世界上不同国家之前的报道，由于铝、铁、钛等元素对镁的部分替代，ATP的实际成分会有所不同，这对我们的研究非常重要。在此，我们已成功使用这种染料敏化粘土矿物（原始和纯化的）在可见光照射下有效还原水以产生氢气。进一步的化学分析以及计算模拟（CS）表明，天然铁掺杂（两个ATP晶胞共享一个铁原子）可以促进光催化过程。
