Oxygen-rich carbon-nitrogen quantum dots as cocatalysts for enhanced photocatalytic H2 production activity of TiO2 nanofibers

We developed an one-step hydrothermal method to synthesize carbon-nitrogen quantum dots (CNQDs) with oxygen-rich functional groups. The sample was characterized by TEM, AFM, FT-IR, XPS, UV-vis absorption and PL spectra. The O/C and N/C atomic ratio of typical CNQDs with diameters of 3-6 nm are ca. 0.4 and 0.2, respectively. Without noble metal cocatalyst, the photocatalytic H2 production rate of CNQDs/TiO2 nanofibers (NFs) (112.4 μmol h−1 g−1) is 1.8 times higher than that of TiO2 NFs. The good absorption of light contributes to the enhanced photocatalytic H2 performance. The CNQDs could be promising in biomedical imaging, optical data recording storage and photo/electrocatalysis, etc.