Design of charge transfer channels: defective TiO2/MoP supported on carbon cloth for solar-light-driven hydrogen generation

Abstract

Constructing a befitting structure for efficient charge separation and transport is highly required for photocatalytic water splitting reactions to generate hydrogen (H₂). Herein, we successfully integrated a defective TiO₂/MoP heterojunction with highly conductive carbon cloth (CC), for constructing a panel reactor with charge transfer channels to boost H₂ evolution. As expected, the behavior of photogenerated charge carriers is effectively steered, resulting in high-efficiency charge migration and separation, and consequently improving photocatalytic activity. The optimal TiO₂/MoP/CC exhibits a H₂ generation rate of 14.7 μmol h⁻¹ cm⁻², up to 19 times higher than that of TiO₂/CC. Our work can open up ways to optimize the photocatalytic performance by developing novel non-powder-based photocatalyst systems with good stability and recyclability.