Visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production over dye-sensitized β-BiTaO4

β-BiTaO4 photosensitized with methylene blue, methyl orange, alizarine and eriochrome black T in order to extend its photoresponse into a visible region and the photocatalytic activity was evaluated for each sensitized material under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrate that β-BiTaO4–methylene blue presented photocatalytic activity with respect to hydrogen production, which opens up prospects for improving systems that are able to drive photocatalytic reaction with visible light illumination to make effective use of solar light (∼45% of visible light) to produce hydrogen from water.

► The employed adsorption method demonstrated to be efficient, with complete adsorption of dye on the β-BiTaO4 surface.
► β-BiTaO4–methylene blue presented photocatalytic activity with respect to hydrogen production.
► It opens up prospects for improving systems to make effective use of solar light to produce hydrogen.