Visible light induced dye-sensitized photocatalytic hydrogen production over platinized TiO2 derived from decomposition of platinum complex precursor

Pt/TiO2 derived from complete decomposition of the surface-anchored Pt(dcbpy)Cl2 (dcbpy = 4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridine) precursor (denoted as C-Pt/TiO2) was prepared to serve as photocatalyst in visible light region. For dye-sensitized hydrogen production experiments, the photocatalyst was sensitized by Ru(2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic)2(NCS)2 (the N3 dye) and Ru(2,2′bipyridyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic) (4,4′- dinonyl-2,2′bipyridine) (NCS)2 (the Z907 dye) to induce hydrogen evolution in the presence of sacrificial electron donor, triethanolamine (TEA). The hydrogen generation results showed that C-Pt/TiO2 was found to be a much more active photocatalyst when compared to P-Pt/TiO2, prepared by conventional method of photochemical deposition of H2PtCl6 (denoted as P-Pt/TiO2). For further investigation, the photodegradation experiments in visible region were also confirmed the better photocatalytic activity of C-Pt/TiO2. The enhanced catalytic activity is due to efficient interparticle electron transfer with the small-size and high-disperse platinum particles generated from photodeposition of Pt(dcbpy)Cl2, which was verified by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement.