Enhancement of photocatalysis for H2 evolution on annealed Nano-Titania

Nano-Titania (NT) was prepared via hydrothermal reaction, followed by annealing at corresponding temperatures. The prepared samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller method. The effect of annealing temperature on photovoltage was obtained by a homemade photo-voltage tester. The hydrogen evolution of NT was evaluated using methanol as a sacrificial agent under ultraviolet light irradiation. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of NT strongly depended on the annealing temperature. The effect of annealing temperature on the material properties and photocatalytic activity has been discussed in detail. NT annealed at 450 °C and loaded with 0.1 wt% Pt achieved the optimal H2 evolution of 1000 μmol/h.