One-step synthesis of multiple electron migration channels TiO2/Fe2O3@Ti3C2 MXene heterojunction composite for high efficiency photo-catalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Photo-catalytic hydrogen (H2) production provides a promising technology to tackle the non-renewable energy shortage and environmental pollution problem. However, the rapid recombination of the electron-hole pairs and poorer electric conduction characteristic restrict photo-catalytic H2 production. In this work, a multiple electron migration channels TiO2/Fe2O3@Ti3C2 composite hetero-structure was synthesized by one-step hydrothermal with Ti3C2 in situ autoxidation for Photo-catalytic H2 production. The morphology structures, crystallization properties electrochemical properties were characterized Systematically. Photo-catalytic experiments reveal that the TiO2/Fe2O3@Ti3C2 photo-catalyst displays enhanced response to visible light, increased transient photo-current and excellent photo-catalytic H2 production activity. The hydrogen production rate reached 1634.64 μmol/g/h, which was 9.7 and 16 times that of Ti3C2/TiO2 and single Fe2O3, respectively. The remarkably photo-catalytic H2 production performance of TCTF photo-catalyst was attributed to multiple electron-transfer channels, abundant interface contact sites and excellent light absorption. This research indicates that the hetero-structure photo-catalyst will provide significance insights into the rational design of low-cost, environmentally friendly and high-performance photo-catalysts for photo-catalytic H2 production and other solar-to-fuels conversion and applications.