TiO2/BiYO3 composites for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production

Photocatalytic water splitting into hydrogen was regarded as one of the key solutions to the energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this work, TiO2/BiYO3 photocatalysts were synthesized by an improved Sol-Gel method and their photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution from water splitting was investigated. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of the optimized TiO2/BiYO3 composite exhibited 10 times higher than that of TiO2 and 57 times higher than that of BiYO3, respectively. Such enhanced photocatalytic performance was due to the Type I heterostructure between the TiO2 and BiYO3, which promoted the transfer of photoinduced electrons and the separation of photogenerated charge carriers. This work demonstrates that the TiO2/BiYO3 composites are promising photocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.