Facile synthesis of flake-like TiO₂/C nano-composites for photocatalytic H₂ evolution under visible-light irradiation

Highlights: • TiO₂/C nano-flakes were prepared by a facile phase-transfer strategy combined with salt-template calcination method. • The sub–10 nm of TiO₂ NPs were uniformly dispersed on the carbon flakes. • The TiO₂/C nano-flakes showed a superior visible-light photocatalytic activity for H₂ production. - Abstract: The production of H₂ by photocatalytic water splitting has become a promising approach for clean, economical, and renewable evolution of H₂ by using solar energy. In spite of tremendous efforts, the present challenge for materials scientists is to build a highly active photocatalytic system with high efficiency and low cost. Here we report a facile method for the preparation of TiO₂/C nano-flakes, which was used as an efficient visible-light photocatalyst for H₂ evolution. This composite material was prepared by using a phase-transfer strategy combined with salt-template calcination treatment. The results showed that anatase TiO₂ nanoparticles with the diameter of ∼10 nm were uniformly dispersed on the carbon nano-flakes. In addition, the samples prepared at 600 °C (denoted as T600) endowed a larger surface area of 196 m² g⁻¹ and higher light absorption, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity. Further, the T600 product reached a high H₂ production rate of 57.2 μmol h⁻¹ under visible-light irradiation. This unusual photocatalytic activity arose from the positive synergetic effect between the TiO₂ and carbon in this hybrid catalyst. This work highlights the potential of TiO₂/C nano-flakes in the field of photocatalytic H₂ evolution under visible-light irradiation.