Highly stable CuO incorporated TiO2 catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production from H2O

A CuO incorporated TiO2 catalyst was found to be an active photocatalyst for the reduction of H2O under sacrificial conditions. The catalytic activity originates from the photogeneration of excited electrons in the conduction bands of both TiO2 and CuO resulting in a build-up of excess electrons in the conduction band of CuO. Consequently, the accumulation of excess electrons in CuO causes a negative shift in the Fermi level of CuO. The efficient interparticle charge transfer leads to a higher catalytic activity and the formation of highly reduced states of TiO2/CuO, which are stable even under oxygen saturated condition. Negative shift in the Fermi level of CuO of the catalyst TiO2/CuO gains the required overvoltage necessary for efficient water reduction reaction. The function of CuO is to help the charge separation and to act as a water reduction site. The amount of CuO and crystalline structure were found to be crucial for the catalytic activity and the optimum CuO loading was ca. similar to 5-10% (w/w).