Mixed-dimensional TiO2 nanoparticles with MoSe2 nanosheets for photochemical hydrogen generation

Abstract

Novel TiO2/MoSe2 catalyst has been synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The morphologies, microstructures and optical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, the result show that a large quantity of MoSe2 nanosheets (NSs) were obtained from MoSe2 bulks by lithium intercalatation way and TiO2 nanoparticles has been grown on the NSs successfully. According to the photoelectrochemical measurements, the TiO2/MoSe2 hybrid nanostructures show the photocurrent density of 15 μA/cm2, which is much higher than bare TiO2 of 8 μA/cm2 and bare MoSe2 of 10 μA/cm2. It is proposed that type-II heteroshtucture of TiO2/MoSe2 can efficiently promote photocatalytic activity.