Carbon layers on Pt/TiO2 induced dramatic promotion of photocatalytic H2 production: a combined experimental and computation study

Noble metal nanoparticles (NMNPs) modified semiconductors play important roles in heterogeneous catalysis . However, for the ultra-small NMNPs (<5 nm) on TiO 2 , the problems of easy agglomeration and quick deactivation highlight the need for highly efficient protection of ultra-small NMNPs. Here, we introduce a novel structure of carbonized liquid crystals (CLCs) protected Pt NPs on TiO 2 , which involves in-situ photo-reduction of chloroplatinic acid to ultra-small Pt NPs in lamellar liquid crystals. According to the results of morphological structures, CLCs changed the contact type of Pt/TiO 2 from ‘face-contact’ to ‘point-contact’, which was consistent with our simulation results. Compared with the bare Pt/TiO 2 , the visible-light photocatalytic H 2 production rate of C–Pt/TiO 2 exhibited 1.75-fold enhancement under the protection of CLCs (26.73 mmol g −1  h −1 vs. 15.26 mmol g −1  h −1 ). Especially, the marriage of CLCs and the traditional Pt/TiO 2 photocatalyst achieved long-term stability, which remained 87% of the original rate at the sixth cycle.