Facile synthesis of defected TiO2-x (B) nanosheet/graphene oxide hybrids with high photocatalytic H2 activity

TiO 2 (B) nanosheets/GO (graphene oxide) hybrids are considered to be outstanding performance photocatalysts for high efficiency of H 2 evolution. However, they still suffer severe challenges during the synthetic processes, such as a large amount of the capping agents adhering on the surface and easy occurrence of aggregation. To figure out these obstacles, Ar plasma treatment as a modified method in this study not only enable the TiO 2 (B) nanosheets distributed uniformly on the GO sheets but also engineer defects within TiO 2 (B) nanosheets to significantly improve the photocatalytic activity for the water splitting. The hydrogen evolution rate of the TiO 2- x (B)/GO sheets is 1.4 times higher compared with that of original TiO 2 (B)/GO sheets without Ar plasma treatment. The improved photocatalytic properties were owing to the synergetic effects of oxygen vacancies and the heterojunction between GO and TiO 2 (B), which can promote the visible light utilization and accelerate separation and transportation of photogenerated electron-holes. This study can provide a facile pathway to prepare the two-dimensional hybrid photocatalysts with high photocatalytic H 2 activity.