Facile fabrication of Bi2O3/TiO2-xNx nanocomposites for excellent visible light driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Mesoporous Bi2O3/TiO2-xNx nanocomposites (BiNT) were synthesized by soft chemical template free homogeneous co-precipitation technique. XRD, XPS, TEM, UV-Vis DRS and photoluminescence studies were adapted to determine the structural, electronic and optical properties. The photocatalytic activities of the catalysts were evaluated for water splitting to generate clean hydrogen fuel under visible light irradiation (lambda >= 400 nm). BiNT-400 catalyst showed highest results towards hydrogen production (198.4 mu mol/h) with an apparent quantum efficiency of 4.3%. The pronounced activity of BiNT-400 sample towards hydrogen production was well consistent with high crystallinity, large surface area, proper excitation by N doping and Bi2O3 sensitization. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.