A novel and facile synthesis of black TiO2 with improved visible-light photocatalytic H2 generation: Impact of surface modification with CTAB on morphology, structure and property

Abstract

A novel and facile approach to prepare black TiO2 nanoparticles has been developed using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as structure guiding agent. CTAB has played a crucial role in the formation process of TiO2 nanoparticles by altering the morphology and pore structures, promoting the generation of oxygen vacancies and effectively improving the visible light absorption intensity. Synthetic black TiO2-CTAB-300°C nanoparticles have a high crystallinity with regular mesoporous structure, possessing small particle size, high surface area, and an efficient response to broadband light covering the entire UV–vis-near IR spectrum. Moreover, as-prepared black TiO2-CTAB-300°C nanoparticles showed higher photocatalytic H2 generation activity under visible light compared with control TiO2.