Effect of TiO2 Surface Structure on the Hydrogen Production Activity of the Pt@CuO/TiO2 Photocatalysts for Water Splitting

CuO/TiO2 composites were prepared by the impregnation method, in which TiO2 nanosheets and nanorods are used as the precursors, respectively. We investigated the effect of the TiO2 surface structure on the activity and recyclability of the photocatalysts. The hydrogen production activities were tested in a 3molL(-1) methanol aqueous solution under UV-light irradiation. After deposition of Pt, both Pt@CuO/TiO2 samples displayed higher hydrogen production activities than the Pt/TiO2 samples. The results reveal that the TiO2 sheet-based samples display higher hydrogen production activities and stability than the TiO2 rod-based ones. It is proposed that a more stable p-n heterojunction form at the interface between CuO and TiO2 nanosheets owing to the strong interaction of CuO with the {001} facets of the TiO2 sheets, which significantly refrains the recombination rate of electrons and holes.