Sonochemical/hydration-dehydration synthesis of Pt-TiO NPs/decorated carbon nanotubes with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production activity.

Modified Pt-TiO NPs/decorated carbon nanotubes were synthesized utilizing sonochemical/hydration-dehydration techniques. Pt was loaded on TiO by a photodeposition method keeping in mind the end goal to achieve electron-hole pair separation and promote the surface reaction. The morphological and basic properties of Pt-TiO/fCNTs were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of Pt-TiO/fCNTs were obtained utilizing TEM-based energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) analysis. It was found that the TiO nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the fCNTs, and the Pt particles were decorated on the surface of TiO/fCNTs. The photocatalytic hydrogen production activity of the Pt-TiO/fCNTs nanoparticle composites was investigated using a sacrificial agent methanol solution. Pt-loaded TiO demonstrated a hydrogen evolution rate around 20 times that of TiO/fCNTs (fSWCNTs, fMWCNTs). When compared with platinized TiO in methanol, which was utilized as a control material, Pt-TiO/fCNTs demonstrated an almost 2-fold increment in hydrogen generation.