Hierarchical Heterostructure of TiO 2 Nanosheets on CuO Nanowires for Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract Photocatalytic water splitting has been considered as one of the major strategies for the production of hydrogen, a renewable and sustainable form of energy. Herein, we report a facile approach to preparing hierarchical heterostructure of TiO 2 nanosheets (NSs) supported on CuO nanowires (NWs) for photocatalytic water splitting. Initially, one-dimensional (1D) Cu NWs with diameter of 110 nm were synthesized and facilely controlled via the Maillard reaction. Subsequently, TiO 2 NSs with tunable thickness were solvothermally grown on the surface of Cu NWs. 1D core-shell nanostructure with CuO NWs as core and anatase TiO 2 NSs as shell was finally obtained by a simple calcination process. CuO NWs in the heterostructure not only played the role of backbones but also served as a great co-catalyst. Photocatalytic performance of the heterostructure was investigated and obvious enhancement was demonstrated in H 2 production, compared to the pure TiO 2 nanofibers which are achieved by growing TiO 2 NSs on TiO 2 electrospun fibers. Optimization of thickness of the shell shows that TiO 2 /CuO composites with ca. 100 nm TiO 2 NSs exhibit the highest photocatalytic H 2 generation rate that is 9 times higher than that of bare TiO 2 . The heterostructured nanomaterials have considerable potential to address the environmental and energy issues via generation of clean H 2 fuel.