Truncated octahedral bipyramidal TiO(2)/MXene Ti(3)C(2) hybrids with enhanced photocatalytic H(2) production activity

MXene Ti(3)C(2)/TiO(2) hybrids were successfully synthesized through a simple calcination of F-terminated Ti(3)C(2). The resultant Ti(3)C(2)/TiO(2) composite photocatalysts retained a 2D multilayer structure like MXene Ti(3)C(2), and TiO(2) exhibited a truncated octahedral bipyramidal structure with exposed (001) facets under the participation of fluorine ions. The residual Ti(3)C(2) could act as a co-catalyst to enhance the photocatalytic H(2) production activity by capturing photogenerated electrons from TiO(2) because of its electron reservoir feature and suitable Fermi level. The (101)–(001) surface heterojunction of the truncated octahedral bipyramidal TiO(2) further accelerated the separation of photogenerated carriers. As a result, the Ti(3)C(2)/TiO(2) hybrids with calcining F-terminated Ti(3)C(2) exhibited photocatalytic hydrogen production that is twofold higher than that of Ti(3)C(2)/TiO(2) hybrids with calcining OH-terminated Ti(3)C(2). This work presented a new strategy to prepare MXene Ti(3)C(2)/TiO(2) hybrids for photoconversion applications.