In Situ Formation of Disorder-Engineered TiO₂(B)-Anatase Heterophase Junction for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Hydrogenation of semiconductors is an efficient way to increase their photocatalytic activity by forming disorder-engineered structures. Herein, we report a facile hydrogenation process of TiO2(B) nanobelts to in situ generate TiO2(B)-anatase heterophase junction with a disordered surface shell. The catalyst exhibits an excellent performance for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under the simulated solar light irradiation (∼580 μmol h(-1), 0.02 g photocatalyst). The atomically well-matched heterophase junction, along with the disorder-engineered surface shell, promotes the separation of electron-hole and inhibits their recombination. This strategy can be further employed to design other disorder-engineered composite photocatalysts for solar energy utilization.