Secondary hydrogen spillover enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity in Ru/TiO2–GO

An effective strategy for enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity is the implementation of the hydrogen spillover effect. Herein, a Ru/TiO2–GO (graphene oxide) catalyst was fabricated by means of simple hydrothermal and ultrasound-assisted techniques. By using the secondary hydrogen spillover process, which involves the transfer of active hydrogen species from Ru to TiO2 and then further to GO, the hydrogen evolution activity of Ru/TiO2–2GO reached 23.9 mmol g−1 h−1, which is 45.2 times and 3.85 times greater than that of TiO2 (0.53 mmol g−1 h−1) and Ru/TiO2 (6.2 mmol g−1 h−1), respectively. Controlled experiments and detailed characterization have revealed that the dispersion of GO on the support provides critical desorption sites for H*, thereby promoting the cleavage of Ti–H bonds. H* undergoes secondary spillover onto GO and desorbs to generate H2, enhancing the photocatalytic HER activity. This study enhances the photocatalytic activity of water splitting for hydrogen production by employing a secondary hydrogen spillover strategy, thereby presenting a novel approach for the design of efficient hydrogen production catalysts.