Abstract
Cu 2 O-decorated mesoporous TiO 2 beads (MTBs) are developed as a low-cost, highly efficient photocatalyst for H 2 production. MTBs with a high specific surface area of 189 m 2 g -1 , a large pore volume of 0.43 cm 3 g -1 and a suitable pore size of 8.9 nm are decorated with band-structure-matched Cu 2 O nanocrystals through a simple, fast and low-cost chemical bath deposition process. The Cu 2 O nanocrystals serve as an electron-hole separation centre to promote H 2 evolution. Under optimal operation conditions, an ultra-high specific H 2 evolution rate of 223 mmol h -1 g -1 is achieved. The success is attributed to the structural advantages of the MTBs of high specific surface areas, large pore volumes and suitable pore sizes together with the much improved electron-hole separation and light utilisation of the Cu 2 O-decorated MTBs. The H 2 evolution rates achieved with the Cu 2 O-decorated MTBs are one order of magnitude higher than those achieved by commercial P25 TiO 2 .Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.