Multivalence photocatalytic semiconductor elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9376332-B2
Application number	US-201313840859-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

Described herein are elements comprising a p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds and an n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands wherein the semiconductor types are in ionic communication with each other. The elements enhance photocatalytic activity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An element comprising:
at least one p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds, the compound having p-type conduction bands and p-type valence bands; and
at least one n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands, the n-type semiconductor in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds; and
wherein the at least one n-type semiconductor is a titanium oxide having a valence band controlled through doping.

2. The element of claim 1 , further comprising a noble metal in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds.

3. The element of claim 2 , wherein the noble metal is selected from rhodium, ruthium, palladium, silver, osmium, platinum and gold.

4. The element of claim 2 , wherein the noble metal is loaded onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

5. The element of claim 1 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds comprise pairs selected from copper(I) and copper(II); cobalt(II) and cobalt (III); Mn(II) and Mn(III); Fe(II) and Fe(III) and Ir(III) and Ir(IV).

6. The element of claim 1 , wherein the at least one p-type semiconductor is loaded onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

7. The element of claim 1 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds are substantially uniformly dispersed onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

8. The element of claim 1 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds have a particle size of 100 nm or less.

9. The element of claim 5 , wherein the copper(I) and copper(II) compound is a Cu x O compound.

10. The element of claim 9 , wherein the Cu x O compound is chemically valence controlled.

11. The element of claim 5 , wherein the ratio of copper(I) and copper(II) is between 10:90 to 90:10.

12. The element of claim 1 , wherein the p-type semiconductor is 0.001 to 10 wt % of the element and the p-type semiconductor is 90 to 99.999 wt % of the element.

13. An element comprising:
at least one p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds, the compound having p-type conduction bands and p-type valence bands; and
at least one n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands, the n-type semiconductor in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds; and
wherein the at least one n-type semiconductor is Al 2-x In x TiO 5 wherein 0<x<2.

14. An element comprising:
at least one p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds, the compound having p-type conduction bands and p-type valence bands; and
at least one n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands, the n-type semiconductor in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds; and
wherein the at least one n-type semiconductor is Zr 1-y Ce y TiO 4 wherein 0<y<1.

15. The element of claim 1 , wherein the at least one n-type semiconductor is a titanium oxide doped with an atom selected from N, C or both.

16. An element comprising:
at least one p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds, the compound having p-type conduction bands and p-type valence bands; and
at least one n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands, the n-type semiconductor in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds; and
wherein the at least one n-type semiconductor is a titanium oxide comprising a compound represented by the formula (Ti 1-r M r )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), wherein:
M is selected from the group consisting of Sn, Ni, Sr, Ba, Fe, Bi, V, Mo, W, Zn, Cu, and combinations thereof;
r is in the range of 0 to 0.25;
s is in the range of 0.001 to 0.1; and
t is in the range of 0.001 to 0.1.

17. An element comprising:
at least one p-type semiconductor comprising mixed valence oxide compounds, the compound having p-type conduction bands and p-type valence bands; and
at least one n-type semiconductor having a deeper valence band than the p-type semiconductor valence bands, the n-type semiconductor in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds; and
wherein at least one n-type semiconductor is (Ti 0.99 Sn 0.01 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.97 Sn 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.95 Sn 0.05 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.90 Sn 0.10 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.85 Sn 0.15 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.985 Ni 0.015 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.98 Ni 0.02 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.97 Ni 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.99 Sr 0.01 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.97 Sr 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.95 Sr 0.05 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.97 Ba 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.95 Ba 0.05 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.94 Sn 0.05 Fe 0.01 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.94 Sn 0.05 Ni 0.01 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.99 Fe 0.01 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.95 Zn 0.05 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.77 Sn 0.15 Cu 0.08 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.85 Zn 0.15 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.90 Bi 0.10 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.996 V 0.004 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.984 V 0.016 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.970 V 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.997 Mo 0.003 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.98 Mo 0.016 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.957 Mo 0.043 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.97 W 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.95 W 0.05 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.996 V 0.004 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ), (Ti 0.984 V 0.016 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ) or (Ti 0.970 V 0.03 )(O 2-s-t C s N t ).

18. The element of claim 16 , further comprising a noble metal in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds.

19. The element of claim 18 , wherein the noble metal is selected from rhodium, ruthium, palladium, silver, osmium, platinum and gold.

20. The element of claim 18 , wherein the noble metal is loaded onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

21. The element of claim 16 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds comprise pairs selected from copper(I) and copper(II); cobalt(II) and cobalt(III); Mn(II) and Mn(III); Fe(II) and Fe(III) and Ir(III) and Ir(IV).

22. The element of claim 16 , wherein the at least one p-type semiconductor is loaded onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

23. The element of claim 16 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds are substantially uniformly dispersed onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

24. The element of claim 16 , wherein the mixed valence oxide compounds have a particle size of 100 nm or less.

25. The element of claim 21 , wherein the copper(I) and copper(II) compound is a Cu x O compound.

26. The element of claim 25 , wherein the Cu x O compound is chemically valence controlled.

27. The element of claim 21 , wherein the ratio of copper(I) and copper(II) is between 10:90 to 90:10.

28. The element of claim 16 , wherein the p-type semiconductor is 0.001 to 10 wt % of the element and the p-type semiconductor is 90 to 99.999 wt % of the element.

29. The element of claim 17 , further comprising a noble metal in ionic charge communication with the mixed valence oxide compounds.

30. The element of claim 29 , wherein the noble metal is selected from rhodium, ruthium, palladium, silver, osmium, platinum and gold.

31. The element of claim 29 , wherein the noble metal is loaded onto the at least one n-type semiconductor.

32. The element of claim 17 , wherein the mixed va

Assignees

• Nitto Denko Corp

Inventors

• Sambandan Ekambaram
• Zhang Bin

Classifications

• B01J23/755

  Nickel · CPC title

• C02F2101/308

  Dyes; Colorants; Fluorescent agents · CPC title

• C02F1/32 Primary

  with ultraviolet light · CPC title

• B01J23/30

  Tungsten · CPC title

• B01J23/14

  of germanium, tin or lead · CPC title