Abstract

A novel hierarchical TiO2 spheroids embellished with g-C3N4 nanosheets has been successfully developed via thermal condensation process for efficient solar-driven hydrogen evolution and water depollution photocatalyst. The photocatalytic behaviour of the asprepared nanocomposite is experimented in water splitting and organic pollutant degradation under solar light irradiation. The optimal ratio of TiO2 spheroids with g-C3N4 in the nanocomposite was found to be 1:10 and the resulting composite exhibits excellent photocatalytic hydrogen production of about 286 mu mol h(-1)g(-1), which is a factor of 3.4 and 2.3 times higher than that of pure TiO2 and g-C3N4, respectively. The outstanding photocatalytic performance in this composite could be ascribed as an efficient electron-hole pair's separation and interfacial contact between TiO2 spheroids with g-C3N4 nanosheets in the formed TiO2/g-C3N4 nanocomposite. This work provide new insight for constructing an efficient Z-scheme TiO2/g-C(3)N(4 )nanocomposites for solar light photocatlyst towards solar energy conversion, solar fuels and other environmental applications. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.