Insights into hybrid TiO2-g-C3N4 heterostructure composite decorated with rGO sheet: A highly efficient photocatalyst for boosted solar fuel (hydrogen) generation

Abstract

Herein, we couple graphene with TiO2-g-C3N4 heterostructured material through a one-pot solvothermal approach for efficient solar fuel generation. The 2 wt.% rGO/TiO2-g-C3N4 (2-RTC) photocatalyst with optimized loadings (40 wt.% TiO2 and 2 wt.% rGO) exhibits a superior solar fuel (H2) generation rate of 27,254.4 µmolg−1h−1, an approximately 163-enhancement compared to bare g-C3N4, which is providentially higher than many already reported g-C3N4-based photocatalysts. Besides, the H2 generated in this study is the highest H2 produced so far with the combination of graphene, TiO2, and g-C3N4 materials. Additionally, the optimized photocatalyst presents a solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of 3.868% higher than many already reported results.

Keywords

• Solar fuel
• Reduced graphene oxide
• Titanium dioxide and graphitic carbon nitride