Loading Pt-Ru Dual Atoms on Oxygen-Vacancy-Rich TiO₂ for Efficient Photocatalytic H₂ Production

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Catalysis
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Renewable hydrogen is crucial for energy challenges and climate mitigation.
• Photocatalytic water splitting is a key method for green hydrogen generation.
• Single-atom catalysts (SACs) offer superior activity and selectivity over traditional materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and evaluate bimetallic single-atom catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
• To investigate the performance of platinum-ruthenium/defective titanium dioxide nanosheets (Pt-Ru/Vo-TNS).
• To compare the hydrogen evolution rates of monometallic and bimetallic catalysts.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of Pt and Ru single-atom catalysts on defective titanium dioxide (Vo-TNS) nanosheets using deposition-precipitation.
• Photocatalytic hydrogen production experiments in aqueous solution with methanol as a sacrificial agent.
• Systematic comparison of hydrogen evolution rates for TiO2, Pt/Vo-TNS, and Pt-Ru/Vo-TNS catalysts.

Main Results:

• The optimized Pt-Ru/Vo-TNS catalyst achieved a hydrogen evolution rate of 2408.61 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹.
• This rate is 89 times higher than TiO2 and 1.3 times higher than Pt/Vo-TNS.
• The enhanced performance is attributed to the atomic dispersion of noble metals, maximizing utilization efficiency.

Conclusions:

• Bimetallic single-atom catalysts, specifically Pt-Ru/Vo-TNS, demonstrate exceptional activity for photocatalytic hydrogen production.
• Atomic-level dispersion of noble metals is key to achieving high catalytic efficiency.
• The study presents a viable synthesis method for advanced bimetallic single-atom catalysts.