Synthesis of visible and near infrared light sensitive amorphous titania for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

A simple and environmentally safe method of anaerobic hydrolysis was designed to synthesize amorphous TiO2-x containing Ti3+ from the dissolution of Ti-0 by water in an anaerobic environment. The disordered arrangement of atoms in amorphous TiO2-x enables it to expand its light absorbing boundary from the ultraviolet to near infrared light region by narrowing its mobility gap to 1.5 eV. As a result, an effective visible and near infrared light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting can be achieved by the assynthesized amorphous TiO2-x with the aid of Ti3+ to inhibit charge recombination. An ideal quantum yield of approximately 4.57% was achieved at a wavelength of 488 nm. This strategy represents a new approach to alter the activity of TiO2, and it is meaningful for achieving green production of artificial clean energy.