Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Metal organic framework (MOF) templated synthesis of visible light active photocatalysts for water splitting and remediation (136245)

Cameron J Shearer 1 , Thomas O'Dea 1
  1. Adelaide University, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia

Photocatalysis is a promising method to produce hydrogen using only sunlight and water and to degrade pollutant chemicals present in water.1-3 Metal doping of metal-oxide photocatalysts has been shown to lead to drastic improvements in photonic efficiency.

There exists a knowledge gap, regarding the optimal internal dopant distribution with most doping strategies resulting in inhomogeneous doping distribution. This work explores a novel method of templating the synthesis of a well characterized photocatalyst, strontium titanate (SrTiO3). A suitable metal-organic framework (MOF) is used (MUV-10(Sr)) to pre-organise the distribution of dopant species prior to thermal calcination to produce the doped metal oxide. Two important doping schemes namely: aluminium doping, and lanthanum and rhodium co-coping, are demonstrated using this method and it is shown that superior control over distribution and incorporation is realised. The photocatalytic activity of the MOF derived materials were investigated for overall water splitting, sacrificial water splitting and organic pollutant remediation.

 

References:

  1. Bat-Erdene, M, … Shearer, C. J.; Batmunkh, M., Atomically Dispersed Nickel (Ni) Species on Black TiO2–Ov Photocatalysts Derived from Ti3C2Tx (MXene). The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2024, 128 (25), 10577-10585.
  2. Shearer, C. J.; Hisatomi, T.;  Domen, K.; Metha, G. F., Gas phase photocatalytic water splitting of moisture in ambient air: Toward reagent-free hydrogen production. J. Photochem. Photobiol., A 2020, 401, 112757.
  3. Kurashige, W….. Shearer, C. J.; Negishi, Y., Activation of Water-Splitting Photocatalysts by Loading with Ultrafine Rh–Cr Mixed-Oxide Cocatalyst Nanoparticles. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59 (18), 7076-7082.