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SrTiO 3 -reduced graphene oxide (SrTiO 3 -RGO) composites were synthesized via a facile one pot hydrothermal process. This was achieved by decorating graphene oxide (GO) layers with Ti(OBu) 4 and Sr(NO 3 ) 2 as starting materials followed by hydrothermal synthesis, which converts the SrTiO 3 particles with a diameter of 87–200 nm on the RGO surface, without using strong reducing agents. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), photoluminescence spectra (PL), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS), and photocurrent analysis. SrTiO 3 particles were shown to be grown homogeneously on the RGO sheets with close interfacial contacts. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activities of the SrTiO 3 and SrTiO 3 -RGO composites were contrasted. Compared to SrTiO 3 , SrTiO 3 -RGO composites showed much higher photocatalytic hydrogen production activity under UV light irradiation. The SrTiO 3 -0.8%RGO composite showed the highest photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity. PL, EIS and photocurrent analysis were used to elucidate the mechanism that the enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity over the SrTiO 3 -RGO composites is attributed to the reduction of the photogenerated electron-hole recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] WO3 (core)/Bi2WO6 (shell) photocatalysts were synthesized. [•] The Bi2WO6 shells have evenly been deposited over the WO3 cores. [•] Results showed that RhB can be decomposed using a 4W LED lamp as visible light. [•] WO3/Bi2WO6 samples show a remarkably higher photocatalytic activity than pure WO3. [•] The mechanism for the efficient photocatalytic activity of WO3/Bi2WO6 is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]