Solar light photocatalytic hydrogen production from water over Pt and Au/TiO2(anatase/rutile) photocatalysts: Influence of noble metal and porogen promotion

Abstract Hydrogen production from water under artificial solar light irradiation was performed over a series of Pt and Au/TiO 2 (anatase/rutile) photocatalysts. Different TiO 2 supports with varying anatase/rutile contents were compared, based on either sol–gel synthesis or commercial TiO 2 . The influence of template promotion on sol–gel TiO 2 synthesis has been studied using different porogens or templates. Among various factors influencing the hydrogen evolution efficiency, it was pointed out that the following parameters were crucial to enhance H 2 evolution: (i) the nature and content of the metallic co-catalyst, (ii) the surface, crystallographic, and porosity properties of the TiO 2 anatase/rutile support, (iii) the anatase/rutile ratio, (iv) the metal–support interactions, and (v) the relative amount of methanol added as a sacrificial reagent. The influence of these different factors was studied in detail. In optimized conditions, important H 2 production efficiency (120 μmol/min) was obtained over days without deactivation and with very low amounts of methanol.