Photocatalytic activity of hydrogen production from water over TiO2 with different crystal structures

In this work, the anatase and rutile TiO2 of single crystal structure are prepared by a facile hydrolysis method. The obtained samples are studied via various characterizations, and compared with different commercial TiO2 (P25, ST-21, ST-31), which have mixed structures, to investigate the photocatalytic performance from water splitting. The experimental results show that the photocatalytic activity of samples depends on the surface properties and particle sizes. Moreover, compared with the TiO2 of single crystal structure, P25 and ST-21 mixed crystal structures show superior photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting. According to experimental results, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of TiO2 with mixed crystal structure is proposed.