Gold-palladium bimetallic nanoalloy decorated ultrathin 2D TiO2 nanosheets as efficient photocatalysts with high hydrogen evolution activity

Yongji Xin, Linen Wu, Lei Ge*, Changcun Han, Yujing Li, Siman Fang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this work, a novel AuPd bimetallic nanoalloy decorated ultrathin 2D titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanosheet with high H2 evolution activity was prepared via a facile in situ synthesis method. The physical and photophysical properties of the as-prepared AuPd/TiO2 nanosheets were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron spin resonance (ESR) and surface photocurrent spectroscopy (SPC). The photocatalytic H2 evolution experiments indicate that the AuPd co-catalysts can efficiently promote the separation of photogenerated charge carriers in TiO2, and consequently enhance the H2 evolution activity. The 0.3 wt% AuPd/TiO2 sample shows the highest catalytic activity, and the corresponding H2 evolution rate is 526 μmol h-1 g-1, which is 31 times higher than that of pure TiO2 under simulated sunlight (λ > 300 nm) irradiation. A possible mechanism of the enhanced simulated sunlight catalytic performance of AuPd bimetallic nanoparticle (NP) decorated TiO2 nanosheets is proposed to guide further improvement of desirable functional materials. It is expected that the AuPd decorated TiO2 nanosheets obtained via a simple synthesis approach can be used as efficient photocatalysts and exhibit promising potential for new energy applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)8659-8666
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume3
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Apr 2015
Externally publishedYes

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