Promising photocatalysts based on nanoshaped TiO2 - rGO composite doped with metals (Pt and Cu) for hydrogen photoproduction

Photocatalysts based on TiO2 and its modification have become popular as promising materials for the sus-tainable photoproduction of hydrogen. In this work, novel Pt -Cu -TiO2 composites with different TiO2 nano -shapes and modified with biomass-derived reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are reported as promising photocatalysts for the generation of hydrogen from water-alcohol mixtures. The developed photocatalyst has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis. The partial replacement of platinum with copper definitely lowered the cost of hydrogen photoproduction still keeping its high efficiency. Furthermore, the additional modification of the composite with rGO successfully boosted the amount of generated H2, which was ca. 27 mmol h-1 g-1.