Efficient interfacial solar driven water evaporation and photocatalytic pollutant degradation by partially oxidized TiH1.924/TiO2 nanosheet

Interfacial solar driven water evaporation (ISDWE) and photocatalytic pollutant degradation (PPD) have been considered as efficient and green technologies for tackling the water crisis. Here, through hydrothermal treatment of TiH1.924/Ti powders, we designed a hybrid material composed of partially oxidized TiH1.924 and TiO2 nanosheets with outstanding ISDWE and PPD performances. Titanium suboxides can be formed inside the compound of partially oxidized TiH1·924/TiO2 nanosheet, and induce efficient solar-thermal transformation. Meanwhile, TiO2 nanosheet is conducive to reducing the water vaporization enthalpy, ensuring adequate water supply, and enlarging the surface area for evaporation. Due to the synergies between partially oxidized TiH1.924 and TiO2 nanosheet, the water evaporation rate achieved 1.70 kg m−2•h−1 under solar radiation of 1.0 kW m−2, which is higher than most reported titanium compounds. The investigation on the PPD performance showed that the photothermal effect and band alignment collaboratively improved the photodegradation of rhodamine B by partially oxidized TiH1·924/TiO2 nanosheets. The excellent PPD property can promote the long-term ISDWE application of partially oxidized TiH1·924/TiO2 nanosheets by avoiding the dye accumulation. This study may provide valuable information for developing advanced composites, ISDWE and PPD technologies.