Flower-like hydrogen titanate nanosheets: preparation, characterization and their photocatalytic hydrogen production performance in the presence of Pt cocatalyst

Flower-like hydrogen titanate nanosheets were prepared by a hydrothermal method and an assembling process. Then the Pt nanoparticles as cocatalysts were supported on the hydrogen titanate nanosheets through a photoreduction method. The samples were characterized by XRD, TG-DTA, ICP, SEM, TEM, XPS and UV-vis DRS. Their photocatalytic activity for H(2) production was also evaluated. The TEM results revealed that the as-prepared H(2)Ti(2)O(5)·H(2)O was with flower-like structure in which nanosheets were interlaced together. The formation mechanism of flower-like H(2)Ti(2)O(5)·H(2)O nanosheets was briefly proposed. With Pt cocatalyst, the flower-like H(2)Ti(2)O(5)·H(2)O had better photocatalytic activity (hydrogen production rate: 9.28 mmol g(−1) h(−1)) and good cycling stability than original H(2)Ti(2)O(5)·H(2)O and commercial P25 under the same conditions. It was also found that the amount of cocatalyst Pt was positively correlated with photocatalytic performance.