Synergetic effect of TiO2 as co-catalyst for enhanced visible light photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) on MoSe2

• MoSe2-TiO2 composites were synthesized via a facile solvothermal method.
• TiO2 acts as co-catalyst to separate the photo-generated electron-hole pairs.
• MoSe2-TiO2 composites exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity.
• A high Cr(VI) reduction rate of 91% was achieved under visible light irradiation.

MoSe2-TiO2 composites were successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal method. Their morphology, structure and photocatalytic activity in the reduction of Cr(VI) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectra, respectively. The results show that the introduction of TiO2 into MoSe2 boosts the light harvesting efficiency and charge separation and transfer due to their synergistic effect, thus enhancing the visible light photocatalytic activity of MoSe2 with a maximum Cr(VI) reduction rate of 91% at 120 min compared with pure MoSe2 (61%) and TiO2 (5%).

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