Precisely locate Pd-Polypyrrole on TiO2 for enhanced hydrogen production

Noble metal (Pd) and conducting polymer (PPy) are considered as two promising candidates to modify photocatalyst. In this work, TiO2-Pd-PPy was prepared via one-step simultaneous photoreduction of palladium chloride and photooxidation of pyrrole monomers on TiO2 (P25). The TiO2-0.5Pd-0.6PPy exhibits higher H2 production rate of 601 μmol h−1 under UV-visible light irradiation, which is about 3.1 and 11.7 times than that of TiO2-0.5Pd and TiO2, respectively. One-step simultaneous photo-deposited method allows for precisely locating Pd and PPy on TiO2, in other words, the places where Pd and PPy nanoparticles deposited are just the active sites that the photo-induced electrons and holes participate in the photocatalytic reaction, which is beneficial for separation of photo-induced carriers. As a result, TiO2-0.5Pd-0.6PPy synthesized by one-step simultaneous photo-deposited method displays much higher H2 production activity than TiO2-0.5Pd-0.6PPy synthesized by other methods.