Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over Pt–Pd dual atom sites anchored on TiO2 nanosheets

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water is a clean and sustainable way of energy regeneration. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have received increasing attention in the field of photocatalysis due to their high catalytic activity, selectivity, stability, and 100% atomic utilization. In this work, we utilized TiO₂ with oxygen vacancy (Vo-TiO₂) to anchor atomically dispersed Pt and Pd, developing a Vo-TiO₂-supported dual atomic catalyst (Pt–Pd SAs/Vo-TiO₂). Experiments show the metal atomic sites are stabilized by the oxygen vacancy of TiO₂, and the Ti–Pt–Ti structure and the Ti–Pd–Ti structure are constructed. The result shows that the hydrogen production rate of Pt–Pd SAs/Vo-TiO₂ is 4 times higher than that of Pt–Pd NPs/TiO₂, and its hydrogen production rate is as high as 4241.4 μmol h⁻¹ g_cat.⁻¹, which greatly reduces catalyst cost and makes photocatalytic water hydrogen production more economical and sustainable. This work provides a new idea for the development of dual single-atom catalysts for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production.