Reduced Ti-MOFs encapsulated black phosphorus with high stability and enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract The generation of green hydrogen (H2) energy is of great significance to solve worldwide energy and environmental issues. Reduced Ti based photocatalyst has recently attracted intensive attention due to its excellent photocatalytic activity, while the synthesis of reduced Ti based photocatalysts with high stability is still a great challenge. Here, we report a facile method for synthesis of reduced Ti metal organic frameworks (small amounts of Pt incorporated) encapsulated BP (BP/R-Ti-MOFs/Pt) hybrid nanomaterial with enhanced photocatalytic activity. The strong interaction between Ti and P reduces the valence state of the binding Ti4+ on the BP surface, forming abundant reduced Ti4+ within R-Ti-MOFs/BP. Such reduced Ti4+ render R-Ti-MOFs/BP efficient charge transfer and excellent light absorption capability, thus promote the photocatalytic H2 production efficiency. Furthermore, the Ti-P interaction stabilizes both reduced Ti4+ and BP during the photocatalytic reaction, which greatly enhanced the stability of the obtained BP/R-Ti-MOFs/Pt photocatalyst.