Covalent bonded Bi4Ti3O12/covalent organic frameworks inorganic/organic heterojunctions for robust cocatalyst-free photocatalytic hydrogen production

The high cost of noble metal cocatalysts is impractical for the practical application of photocatalytic hydrogen production. Therefore, the development of photocatalysts to achieve hydrogen production under cocatalyst-free conditions has important economical value. In this work, an excellent visible light responsive covalent organic framework (TpPa-1-COF) and Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 (BTO) are covalently bonded to construct BTO/TpPa-1-COF inorganic/organic heterojunctions. The obtained BTO/40 %TpPa-1-COF heterojunction achieves high photocatalytic activity without adding cocatalyst. The optimal photocatalytic hydrogen production rate is up to 1055 μmol/g/h, which is 24.3 and 6.2 times higher than that of TpPa-1-COF and physically mixed BTO-40 %TpPa-1-COF. Further studies confirm that the covalent connection between BTO and TpPa-1-COF components can greatly improve the photogenerated charge transfer of TpPa-1-COF, resulting in efficient hydrogen production activity. This provides a new perspective for promoting the practical application of efficient photocatalytic applications.