Chemistry Letters, Vol.44, No.7, 973-975, 2015
Discovery of Novel Delafossite-type Compounds Composed of Copper(I) Lithium Titanium with Photocatalytic Activity for H-2 Evolution under Visible Light
Novel delafossite-type compounds Cu(Li1/3Ti2/3)O-2 with 3R- and 2H-type structures have been discovered through the reaction between Li4Ti5O12 and Cu2O. Cu(Li1/3Ti2/3)O-2 is the first Cu(I)-titanate containing no d(n) (n = 1-9) metal ions. It has been found that Cu(Li1/3Ti2/3)O-2 with a band gap of 2.1 eV functions as a photocatalyst for H-2 evolution under visible light irradiation.