NiS/Pt loaded on electrospun TiO2 nanofiber with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

The porous TiO2 nanofiber has been synthesized via facile electrospinning and thermal annealing. Furthermore, the intermediate layer of NiS and Pt nanoparticles can be sequentially deposited on the porous TiO2 nanofiber to form hierarchical core-shell TiO2/NiS/Pt nanofiber through wet-chemical and self-assembly processes. Compared with the TiO2 (16 µmolh−1g−1 L−1) nanofiber and TiO2/NiS nanofiber (54 µmolh−1g−1 L−1), TiO2/NiS/Pt nanofiber (4411 µmolh−1g−1 L−1) revealed remarkably photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution from water under visible light excitation. The significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity over the TiO2/NiS/Pt nanofiber could be attributed to enhanced visible light absorption and the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. Furthermore, reusability experiments prove that TiO2/NiS/Pt nanofiber exhibits excellent stability for the long-term photocatalytic process. In addition, TiO2/NiS/Pt nanofiber can also use photocatalytic hydrogen production under different water bases. Therefore, this study provides a promising strategy to develop a novel heterostructure photocatalyst for highly efficient energy conversion.