Preparation and Characterization of TiO2/Co3O4 Nanocomposites and Their Photocatalytic Activity for Hydrogen Evolution

TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposites with photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution under visible light were prepared via carbon assistant method and Sol-Gel method. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope(HRTEM) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer were used to characterize the samples' crystal structure, morphology and absorptivity of ultraviolet and visible light. The characterization results demonstrate that the prepared nanocomposites have good crystal form, structure and absorptivity of both ultraviolet and visible light. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposites for hydrogen evolution under simulated sunlight was tested and their reusability was also investigated. The results show that the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of pure water over the TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposites is about 8.25 mu mol/(g.h) under simulated sunlight. And the nanocomposites possess ideal reusability.