One-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanostructured MgBi 2 O 6 /TiO 2 Composites for Enhanced Hydrogen Production.

A highly efficient MgBi2O 6 (MBO)/TiO 2 heterostructured photocatalyst for the evolution of H 2 was successfully prepared using a one-step hydrothermal method. The phase structure, microstructure and optical properties of the MBO/TiO 2 composites were investigated by various experimental techniques. A series of H 2 production experiments were performed under visible light. The measured results indicated that the nanostructured MBO/TiO 2 composite, with a stoichiometric molar ratio of MBO:TiO 2 = 0.2%, displayed the best H 2 production rate of 3413 μmol h -1 g -1 . The excellent photocatalytic performance of the obtained composite material was due to the heterojunction formed between MBO and TiO 2 , which reduced the charge transfer resistance and accelerated the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The reaction mechanism was also discussed in detail.