Graphite oxide–TiO2 nanocomposite and its efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Graphite oxide (GO)–TiO2 nanocomposite was prepared by a facile hydrothermal process and was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis diffusion reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. TiO2 particles with average particle size of ∼20 nm in the nanocomposites are attached to the surface of GO and/or intercalated into the interlayer of GO. The obtained GO–TiO2 was used as photocatalyst for H2 production under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation, and an optimal photocatalytic H2 production rate of 380 μmol h−1 can be obtained over 2 wt% GO–TiO2. The encouraging results presented here demonstrate that GO can serve as visible-light-driven photocatalyst and photosensitizer to expand the photoresponsive range of TiO2 to visible light for H2 production. The possible mechanism for H2 production was proposed for better understanding the visible-light-driven photocatalytic behaviour of the GO–TiO2 nanocomposite.

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► GO–TiO2 nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile hydrothermal process.
► The implanted GO expand the spectral responsive range of TiO2 to visible light for H2 production.
► As a result, stable photocatalytic H2 production efficiency were obtained over GO–TiO2.