One-step solvothermal synthesis of MoS2/TiO2 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic H2 production.

The present communication reports on a facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of highly crystallized MoS ₂/TiO ₂ nanocomposites for the first time. The TEM image shows the generation of a large amount of TiO ₂ nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 5–8 nm. The photocurrent measurement suggests that loading a certain amount of MoS ₂ can effectively improve separation of photogenerated carries. Cyclic voltammograms measurements reveal that TiO ₂ modified with 1.0 wt% MoS ₂ can reduce hydrogen reduction overpotential, thereby leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity. Photocatalytic H ₂ evolution test suggests that 1.0 wt% MoS ₂/TiO ₂ nanocomposites show superior photocatalytic activity, and the H ₂ production rate achieves 119.5 μmol h ⁻¹ g ⁻¹ and is about 19 times higher than that of TiO ₂ alone, which could be attributed to the short diffusion distance in TiO ₂ nanoparticles, efficient interfacial electron transfer from TiO ₂ nanoparticles to MoS ₂ surface, and reduced hydrogen reduction overpotential. Furthermore, the MoS ₂/TiO ₂ photocatalysts are stabile during the photocatalytic H ₂ evolution test. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]