Enhanced visible-light photoactivity of {001} facets dominated TiO2 nanosheets with even distributed bulk oxygen vacancy and Ti3+

A series of {001} facets dominated TiO2 nanosheets with even distributed bulk oxygen vacancies and Ti3+ were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method at different temperatures. The oxygen vacancy and Ti3+ quantity increased with the hydrothermal temperature from 180 °C to 240 °C. The existed oxygen vacancies and Ti3+ significantly improve the visible-light photoactivity, which can be assigned to the enhanced visible light adsorption, ·OH generation ability and reduced photoelectrons and holes recombination rate.

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► TiO2 nanosheets with even distributed bulk oxygen vacancy and Ti3+ were prepared.
► Oxygen vacancy and Ti3+ were seriously depended on the hydrothermal temperature.
► Oxygen vacancy and Ti3+ were beneficial to improve visible-light photoactivity.