Facile synthesis of flake-like TiO2/C nano-composites for photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible-light irradiation

Abstract The production of H 2 by photocatalytic water splitting has become a promising approach for clean, economical, and renewable evolution of H 2 by using solar energy. In spite of tremendous efforts, the present challenge for materials scientists is to build a highly active photocatalytic system with high efficiency and low cost. Here we report a facile method for the preparation of TiO 2 /C nano-flakes, which was used as an efficient visible-light photocatalyst for H 2 evolution. This composite material was prepared by using a phase-transfer strategy combined with salt-template calcination treatment. The results showed that anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles with the diameter of ∼10 nm were uniformly dispersed on the carbon nano-flakes. In addition, the samples prepared at 600 °C (denoted as T600) endowed a larger surface area of 196 m 2  g −1 and higher light absorption, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Further, the T600 product reached a high H 2 production rate of 57.2 μmol h −1 under visible-light irradiation. This unusual photocatalytic activity arose from the positive synergetic effect between the TiO 2 and carbon in this hybrid catalyst. This work highlights the potential of TiO 2 /C nano-flakes in the field of photocatalytic H 2 evolution under visible-light irradiation.