Simply Coupling TiO2 Nanospheres with Cu2O Particles to Boost the Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution through p–n Heterojunction-Induced Charge Transfer

Publication Name

Energy Technology

Abstract

Developing an efficient photocatalyst for solar-to-hydrogen production is regarded as a promising approach to tackle the energy and environmental challenges that we are currently facing. Herein, the TiO2–Cu2O nanocomposite is synthesized via a chemical reduction approach at ambient temperature and used as a photocatalyst. The composition and structure characterizations indicate that Cu2O particles are loaded on the surface of TiO2 nanospheres. The photocatalytic performance of the as-obtained materials is evaluated by a solar-to-hydrogen production test. It is found that the optimized TiO2–Cu2O nanocomposite (TC-20) exhibits a hydrogen evolution rate of 7139.02 μmol g−1 h−1, which is nearly 7 times that of pristine TiO2. Based on the photoluminescence spectra and photo/electrochemical measurements, the boosted photocatalytic H2 evolution performance comes from the promoted separation efficiency of photoinduced electron–hole pairs, which originates from the formed p–n heterojunction of the TiO2–Cu2O nanocomposite.

Open Access Status

This publication is not available as open access

Funding Number

XKQ2020036

Funding Sponsor

Australian Research Council

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ente.202100259