Synthesis of photocatalitic semiconducting composite powder

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K13343
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied materials
• Research Institution: Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Sclence and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Akiyama Kensuke 地方独立行政法人神奈川県立産業技術総合研究所, 化学技術部, 主任研究員 (70426360)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 水素 / 新エネルギー / 結晶工学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Photocatalytic water-splitting is an ideal method for solar energy harvesting. Some photocatalysts that can split water under UV light have been discovered. However, development of visible-light sensitive photocatalysts is indispensable due to the effective utilization of incoming solar energy. On the other hand, semiconducting iron disilicide (β-FeSi2) has a band gap of approximately 0.80 eV and a very large optical absorption coefficient over 1E5 /cm at 1 eV.
In this report, we report on the novel fabrication method of β-FeSi2/3C-SiC composite powder by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method which is general in semiconductor process technology. This β-FeSi2/SiC composite powder could evolve hydrogen (H2) from methyl-alcohol aqueous solution under irradiation of visible light with wavelengths of 420-650 nm.

Free Research Field

機能性薄膜合成