Graphene Quantum Dots Improved “Caterpillar”-like TiO2 for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production via heterojunction provides a convenient approach to solve the world crises of energy supply. Herein, graphene quantum dots modified TiO2hybrids (TiO2-GQDs) with a “caterpillar”-like structure exhibit stronger light absorption in the visible region and an enhanced hydrogen production capacity of about 3.5-fold compared to the pristine TiO2caterpillar. These results inferred that the addition of GQDs drastically promotes the interfacial electron transfer from GQDs to TiO2through C–O–Ti bonds via the bonding between oxygen vacancy sites in TiO2and in-plane oxygen functional groups in GQDs. Using a “caterpillar”-like structure are expected to provide a new platform for the development of highly efficient solar-driven water splitting systems based on nanocomposite photocatalyst.Keywords:GQDs;TiO2caterpillar;photocatalysts;hydrogen production;water-splitting