Room temperature synthesized BaTiO3 for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

As a photocatalyst, barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) has shown a great potential in photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen evolution. In this work, BaTiO 3 nanoparticles were synthesized at room temperature conditions under ambient pressure. The small particle size below 10 nm plays a key role in suppressing the recombination of photo-induced carriers, and thus promoting the photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rates of BaTiO 3 (BTO-R) synthesized at room temperature are 8 and 2.9 times that of commercial BaTiO 3 (BTO-C) in the presence and absence of triethanolamine (TEOA) as a sacrificial agent, respectively. This work provides a good example on size control, low-cost synthesis and photocatalysts' design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]