Novel zirconium-titanium phosphates mesoporous materials for hydrogen production by photoinduced water splitting

Syntheses of mesoporous zirconium-titanium phosphates (ZTP) are described under a wide range of synthetic parameters. The ZTP materials showed ordered mesophases whose pore walls are either amorphous or show a lack of correspondence between the structures of adjacent pores. However, the materials showed the reasonable thermal and hydrothermal stability, high specific surface areas, narrow pore size distribution, and considerable pore volumes in the mesophases range. UV-visible and XANES results confirmed the presence of tetrahedrally coordinated zirconium and titanium in the mesoporous framework. 31P NMR measurements provide the details on the coordination structure of Ti, Zr, O, and P connectivities in the mesoporous frameworks. Finally, the ZTP materials demonstrated the considerable activity in photocatalytic decomposition of water for hydrogen generation.