Ultrathin tungsten-doped hydrogenated titanium dioxide nanosheets for solar-driven hydrogen evolution

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of ultrathin tungsten-doped hydrogenated TiO₂ (W-h-TiO₂) nanosheets for photocatalytic hydrogen production by water splitting without a noble metal as a cocatalyst. In addition to the bandgap modulation and solar absorption enhancement, tungsten doping can introduce more oxygen vacancies and effectively enhance the photothermal effect, which is beneficial for improving the photocatalytic ability of h-TiO₂ nanosheets. As a result, the hydrogen evolution rate of W-h-TiO₂ can reach up to 338.79 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ in the full spectrum (AM 1.5G).