Odd-membered cyclic hetero-polyoxotitanate nanoclusters with high stability and photocatalytic H2 evolution activity

Abstract We investigated the hydrolysis of TiIV along with naturally abundant AlIII ions and reported the formation of a stable and semiconducting nanocluster. Interestingly, this compound exhibits an unusual odd-membered ring structure and also represents the largest Al-containing polyoxotitanium cluster (PTC) observed thus far. The presence of a shell of organic ligands as well as the incorporation of hetero-AlIII ions endowed the nanocluster with high air, thermal, and pH stabilities. The present compound exhibited a record photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of 402.88 μmol g−1 h−1 among PTC materials. This work not only paves the way towards stable PTC materials but also provides new insights into the design of novel photocatalysts.