Surface synergism of Pd/H2Ti3O7 composite nanowires for catalytic and photocatalytic hydrogen production from ammonia borane

• Pd/H2Ti3O7 was synthesized by one-step procedure.
• The band gap was shifted through Pd-doped, leading to the visible light response.
• Pd/H2Ti3O7 revealed good visible light-driven photocatalytic activity.
• The enhancement of H2 production rate could be assigned to the surface synergism.

Pd-incorporated H2Ti3O7 nanowires are synthesized using a facile one-step procedure. H2Ti3O7 nanowires are prepared using a modified alkaline hydrothermal method and Pd is incorporated into the H2Ti3O7 nanowires using a photodeposition technique. The prepared Pd-incorporated H2Ti3O7 nanowires are characterized using XRD, TEM, XPS, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results show that Pd-incorporated H2Ti3O7 nanowires are formed and that the photocatalytic properties of the H2Ti3O7 nanowires are improved by the doping and deposition processes. Furthermore, 1 wt% Pd/H2Ti3O7 composite nanowires show a high hydrogen production rate (up to 0.31 mol min−1) under visible light illumination at 20 °C, and the efficiency of 0.25 wt% Pd/H2Ti3O7 composite nanowires is enhanced by 20% under visible light illumination. The detailed mechanism of hydrogen production through hydrolysis of ammonia borane by using Pd/H2Ti3O7 composite nanowires is discussed.

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