High photocatalytic hydrogen production on Cu(II) pre-grafted Pt/TiO2

•Outstanding H2 production rate was attained by Cu and Pt co-modified TiO2.•Mild metal deposition conditions were chosen to avoid possible Cu-Pt alloying.•Synergistic effects on H2 evolution were induced by the co-presence of Cu and Pt.•The best Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst contains 0.1 wt.% of Cu(II), tightly linked to Ti.•A switching of the Cu oxidation state favors electron transfer to proton reduction.

A series of Pt/Cu/TiO2 photocatalysts, showing very high performance in photocatalytic hydrogen production from methanol/water vapour mixtures, were prepared under mild conditions by Cu(II) grafting on commercial P25 TiO2, with nominal Cu/TiO2 ratios ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 wt.%, followed by 0.5 wt.% Pt nanoparticles deposition by the deposition-precipitation method in the presence of urea. The structural features of the so obtained materials were fully characterized by X-ray absorption spectroscopy, which provided information on the oxidation state of the two metals and on the metal-metal and metal-TiO2 interactions, and by EPR analysis, which evidenced electron transfer phenomena involving copper under irradiation. The photocatalysts showed a volcano-shaped photoactivity trend in hydrogen production with increasing nominal Cu content, the maximum rate of H2 evolution (27.2 mmol h−1 gcat−1) being attained with the photocatalyst containing 0.1 wt.% of copper. In this sample CuO nanoclusters appear to be intimately coordinated with surface Ti atoms in a surface structure that partially stabilizes pre-grafted copper in metallic form, possibly acting as an electron-transfer bridge at the interface between CuO nanoclusters and TiO2. Synergistic effects in H2 photocatalytic production are clearly induced by the co-presence of grafted Cu nanoclusters and Pt nanoparticles on the TiO2 surface, with the copper oxidation state switching under UV-vis irradiation, facilitating electron transfer to adsorbed protons.

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