Influence of the Amount of Hydrogen Fluoride on the Formation of (001)‐Faceted Titanium Dioxide Nanosheets and Their Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation Performance

Abstract

Abstract The influence of the amount of hydrogen fluoride (HF) on product formation from the hydrothermal reaction of titanium butoxide and concentrated HF is investigated. Low HF contents lead to a preference for the formation of small TiO 2 nanoparticles, medium HF contents lead to a preference for TiO 2 nanosheets, and high HF contents lead to a preference for large TiOF 2 particles. Meanwhile, TiO 2 nanosheets display higher activity in photocatalytic hydrogen generation than that of smaller TiO 2 nanoparticles; this demonstrates the higher photocatalytic activity of (001) facets over others. The synergistic effect between TiO 2 nanosheets and TiOF 2 particles could improve the performance of TiO 2 nanosheets owing to possible charge separation over their interface, although TiOF 2 particles themselves barely show any activity.