Gold/Titania Nanorod Assembled Urchin-Like Photocatalysts with an Enhanced Hydrogen Generation by Photocatalytic Biomass Reforming

Herein, we successfully constructed Au/hierarchical urchin-like TiO₂ architectures (Au/HT) photocatalysts, which were assembled by crystalline nanorods by one-step solvothermal method under mild conditions. The as-prepared samples showed an outstandingly renewable H₂ evolution by the photocatalytic glucose reforming. Au/HT revealed a high H₂ evolution rate of 616.23 μmol h^-1 g^-1 under visible-light irradiation at low temperatures without any additional Pt co-catalyst, which was about 46.23 and 15.81 times than that of P25 and HT, since the (one-dimensional) 1D nanorods could effectively accelerate electron transfer and restrain the recombination of photogenerated carriers, meanwhile, (three-dimensional) 3D hierarchical architectures could improve the light capturing capability of HT, and surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Au nanoparticles, which further improved the separation efficiency of photogenerated charges, extended the visible light absorption, and accelerated the H₂ generation. This work offers a potential way to produce sustainable H₂ from environmentally renewable biomass materials using solar energy.