Truncated octahedral bipyramidal TiO2/MXene Ti3C2 hybrids with enhanced photocatalytic H2 production activity†
Abstract
MXene Ti3C2/TiO2 hybrids were successfully synthesized through a simple calcination of F-terminated Ti3C2. The resultant Ti3C2/TiO2 composite photocatalysts retained a 2D multilayer structure like MXene Ti3C2, and TiO2 exhibited a truncated octahedral bipyramidal structure with exposed (001) facets under the participation of fluorine ions. The residual Ti3C2 could act as a co-catalyst to enhance the photocatalytic H2 production activity by capturing photogenerated electrons from TiO2 because of its electron reservoir feature and suitable Fermi level. The (101)–(001) surface heterojunction of the truncated octahedral bipyramidal TiO2 further accelerated the separation of photogenerated carriers. As a result, the Ti3C2/TiO2 hybrids with calcining F-terminated Ti3C2 exhibited photocatalytic hydrogen production that is twofold higher than that of Ti3C2/TiO2 hybrids with calcining OH-terminated Ti3C2. This work presented a new strategy to prepare MXene Ti3C2/TiO2 hybrids for photoconversion applications.
- This article is part of the themed collection: Photocatalysis and Photoelectrochemistry