Green hydrogen production by solar photocatalysis using Pt-TiO₂ nanosheets with reactive facets

Green production of hydrogen is essential for the development of a hydrogen economy. In this study, the photocatalytic water-splitting technology is developed to harness solar energy for production of renewable hydrogen. Pt-TiO₂ nanosheets were fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method, followed by photo-reduction of Pt(acac)₂ on B,F-codoped TiO₂ with reactive facets. The as-prepared photocatalysts were characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic hydrogen production performance was systematically investigated under UV-visible irradiation. The parametric results indicate that the TiO₂ nanosheet structure, Pt loading and photocatalyst concentration have significant impacts on the photocatalytic hydrogen production. The highest hydrogen production rate obtained is 5,086 μmol h^-1g^-1.