Large enhancements in hydrogen production of TiO2 through a simple carbon decoration

A simple carbon decoration, involving only immersion in adipic acid followed by calcination in N2 atmosphere, was developed to prepare thin carbon layer decorated TiO2 nanoparticles. The thin carbon layer was in tight contact with the TiO2 domain and served as an electron trapping center to improve charge separations necessary for enhancement in photocatalytic water splitting performance of the TiO2 nanoparticles. With an optimal carbon loading of 0.3 wt%, a fourfold improvement was achieved for hydrogen production as compared with that achieved by pristine TiO2 nanoparticles. This simple carbon decoration provides a promising low-cost alternative to traditional Pt-decoration approaches for enhancing hydrogen productions from photocatalytic water splitting.