Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over monolayer HTi2NbO7 nanosheets with highly dispersed Pt nanoclusters

Photocatalytic hydrogen production, as an ideal strategy for solar-to-fuel conversion, remains the great challenges in designing the highly efficient photocatalytic systems. Herein, the monolayer HTi2NbO7 nanosheets with the thickness of 1.65 nm are developed as photocatalysts coupled with Pt nanoparticles for hydrogen production from water. The Pt nanocluster/HTi2NbO7 nanosheets prepared via an in situ process showed the better photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution than that obtained by a chemical reduction. The higher dispersity and more closely interface contact between the nanosheets and Pt nanoclusters would promote the transfer of the photogenerated carriers. A synergistic photocatalytic mechanism for monolayer nanosheets and Pt nanocluster would be proposed to elucidate the high efficient hydrogen production.