Abstract
Herein, Ni
2+
species-doped and TS-1-coupled porous LaFeO
3
nanocomposites have been successfully fabricated
via
carbon nanospheres (CNS) in a sequential template approach (STA). XPS, inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), TEM, DRS, fluorescence spectra related to ˙OH amount, photoelectrochemical
I
–
V
curves, TPD and BET results have confirmed that the introduction of pores increased the surface area, and the incorporation of Ni
2+
species extended the light absorption capability by creating surface states and optimizing the band gap positions. The coupling of TS-1 performed the dual function of expanding the surface area and enhancing the charge separation by upgrading high-level energy electrons. Compared to the pristine porous LaFeO
3
, the optimized 3Ni-PLFO and 5TS/3Ni-PLFO nanocomposites have suitable band gap positions and efficient visible-light photocatalytic activities for CO
2
reduction and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol degradation. Interestingly, compared to PLFO, the resulting 5TS/3Ni-PLFO nanocomposite showed 2.5-times improvement for CO
2
reduction and 3-times improvement for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) degradation. It was confirmed from radical trapping experiments that the photogenerated holes and ˙OH are the potent oxidants in the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol degradation. The single wavelength photocurrent action spectrum confirmed that the simultaneous doping of Ni
2+
species and coupling of TS-1 optimized the band gap and upgraded HLEEs of LaFeO
3
, respectively. This novel research approach opens a new gateway for synthesizing large surface area and visible-light-active efficient LaFeO
3
-based photocatalysts for CO
2
conversion and environmental remediation.