Layered Titanate HNdTiO Intercalated With -Butylamine: A New Highly Efficient Hybrid Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production From Aqueous Solutions of Alcohols.

A layered perovskite-type oxide intercalated with -butylamine is reported as an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen production from aqueous solutions of alcohols for the first time. The hybrid photocatalyst HNdTiO×BuNH was synthesized by solid-state ceramic method followed by protonation, intercalation of methylamine and subsequent substitution by -butylamine. The product was characterized by powder XRD, TGA, STA-MS, DRS, IR, and Raman spectroscopy, CHN analysis, SEM. Intercalation of -butylamine caused a dramatic increase in photocatalytic activity of HNdTiO in the reaction of hydrogen evolution from aqueous solutions of methanol, ethanol, and -butanol under UV radiation. While the non-intercalated Pt-loaded HNdTiO showed a maximum quantum efficiency of only 2% in the 220-340 nm range, the efficiency for hybrid samples reached 23% under the same conditions and after variation of experimental parameters even 52% efficiency was achieved. This effect may be associated with the significant expansion of the interlayer space, which is considered as a separate reaction zone.