In-situ Platinum Plasmon Resonance Effect Prompt Titanium Dioxide Nanocube Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Herein, Pt-decorated TiO₂ nanocube hierarchy structure (Pt-TNCB) was fabricated by a facile solvothermal synthesis and in-situ photodeposition strategy. The Pt-TNCB exhibits an excellent solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate (337.84 μmol h^-1 ), which is about 37 times higher than that of TNCB (9.19 μmol h^-1 ). Interestingly, its photocatalytic property is still superior to TNCB with post modification Pt (1 wt %) (208.11 μmol h^-1 ). The introduction of Pt efficiently extends the photoresponse of the composite material from UV to visible light region, simultaneously boosting their solar-driven photocatalytic performance, which attribute to the porous structure, the sub size TNCB, the SPR effect of Pt NPs and strong interaction of two components. In fact, Pt NPs can enhance collective oscillations on delocalized electrons, which is conducive to capture electrons and hinder the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, leading to the longer lifetime of photogenerated charges. The fabrication of Pt-TNCB photocatalyst with SPR effect may provide a promising method to improve visible-light photocatalytic activities for traditional photocatalysts.