Hierarchical Heterostructure of TiO2 Nanosheets on CuO Nanowires for Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

摘要

Photocatalytic water splitting has been considered as one of the major strategies for the production of hydrogen, a renewable and sustainable form of energy. Herein, we report a facile approach to preparing hierarchical heterostructure of TiO2 nanosheets (NSs) supported on CuO nanowires (NWs) for photocatalytic water splitting. Initially, one-dimensional (1D) Cu NWs with diameter of 110 nm were synthesized and facilely controlled via the Maillard reaction. Subsequently, TiO2 NSs with tunable thickness were solvothermally grown on the surface of Cu NWs. 1D core-shell nanostructure with CuO NWs as core and anatase TiO2 NSs as shell was finally obtained by a simple calcination process. CuO NWs in the heterostructure not only played the role of backbones but also served as a great co-catalyst. Photocatalytic performance of the heterostructure was investigated and obvious enhancement was demonstrated in H2 production, compared to the pure TiO2 nanofibers which are achieved by growing TiO2 NSs on TiO2 electrospun fibers. Optimization of thickness of the shell shows that TiO2/CuO composites with ca. 100 nm TiO2 NSs exhibit the highest photocatalytic H2 generation rate that is 9 times higher than that of bare TiO2. The heterostructured nanomaterials have considerable potential to address the environmental and energy issues via generation of clean H2 fuel.