title: Fabrication of CoTiO3/g-C3N4 Hybrid Photocatalysts with Enhanced H2 Evolution: Z-Scheme Photocatalytic Mechanism Insight.
abstract: A novel direct Z-scheme CoTiO3/g-C3N4 (CT-U) photocatalytic system with different weight percentage of CoTiO3 was synthesized using a facile in situ growth method for H2 evolution from water splitting. The as-prepared CT-U composites composed of 1D CoTiO3 microrod and 2D g-C3N4 nanosheet were characterized by various techniques including XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, FTIR, and UV-vis. Results demonstrate that the CT-U composite photocatalysts were successfully fabricated, with intimate interfacial contact and heterojunction interaction between g-C3N4 and CoTiO3 which can significantly boost the photocatalytic activity compared with prinstine g-C3N4 and CoTiO3. The most enhanced H2-evolution rate of 858 μmol h(-1) g(-1) and high quantum efficiency (38.4% at 365 nm, 3.23% at 420 ± 20 nm) are achieved at an optimal 0.15% CT-U. Meanwhile, the 0.15% CT-U sample exhibits good photocatalytic stability in recycling H2 evolution. Accordingly, direct Z-scheme mechanism capable of leading efficient charge carrier separation and strong reduction ability for enhanced H2 production was proposed, and further evidenced by PL, photoelectrochemical analysis, and ESR assay.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: RongQin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: HuaBin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.|Research Centre of the Ministry of Education for High Gravity Engineering & Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tao
keywords: CoTiO3; H2 production; Z-scheme mechanism; g-C3N4; photocatayst; quantum efficiency