Non-high temperature method to synthesize carbon coated TiO₂ nano-dendrites for enhanced wide spectrum photocatalytic...

TiO₂ is a popular photocatalyst due to its low cost and easy availability. Herein, we for the first time synthesized carbon coated TiO₂ nano-dendrites (C-TiO₂ NDs) using a simple hydrothermal method without high-temperature sintering, in which citric acid is used as an adjuvant. This unique dendritic structure consisting of a single small hexagonal piece greatly increases the BET specific area (116.386 m² g^-1) and pore size (0.418 cm³ g^-1), increasing the photocatalytic active site and facilitate efficient capture of light. Besides, compared with the TiO₂ nanobelts (NBs) prepared by sintering method, the surface of C-TiO₂ NDs prepared by hydrothermal method with citric acid are coated with carbon layers, which make C-TiO₂ NDs exhibit stronger photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance under simulated solar light irradiation due to the presence of carbon coatings promoting electron-hole separation and absorbing NIR light.