Green preparation of in-situ oxidized TiO2/Ti3C2 heterostructure for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Preparation of TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 by in-situ oxidation with a green method. • TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 was prepared by in-situ oxidation with a green method. • A heterojunction interface formed between the anatase phase TiO 2 and the Ti 3 C 2 . • The highest H 2 production performance is 2520.4 μmol·g −1 ·h −1 . The preparation of high-efficiency photocatalysts by green and mild methods is very attractive for photocatalysis field. Here, TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 was prepared by in-situ oxidation with a green method, in which only water or H 2 O 2 was used. A heterojunction interface formed between the anatase phase TiO 2 and the Ti 3 C 2, which was demonstrated by HRTEM and XRD. Fluorescence spectra and i-t transient photocurrent are used to study the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The close contact between Ti 3 C 2 and TiO 2 speed up the separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, promoting a higher hydrogen production performance around 2520.4 μmol·g −1 ·h −1 on TCT-1.