Platinum-loaded mesoporous titania by single-step sol–gel process with surfactant template: photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution

The utilization of mesoporous TiO 2 photocatalyst with platinum loading was investigated towards the photocatalytic H 2 evolution. A surfactant-assisted templating sol–gel process was used to obtain the mesoporous TiO 2 with uniform and narrow pore size distribution. Various platinum contents (0.1–0.9 wt%) were supported on the synthesized mesoporous TiO 2 by single-step sol–gel (SSSG), incipient wetness impregnation (IWI), and photochemical deposition (PCD) methods. The photocatalysts were methodically characterized by XRD, N 2 adsorption–desorption analysis, and TEM. The influence of different Pt loading methods on the photocatalytic performance was examined. The SSSG method, in which Pt precursor was introduced into the completely hydrolyzed TiO 2 sol prepared with a mesopore-directing surfactant template, was revealed to be a helpful candidate, exhibiting the highest photocatalytic activity (optimum loading of 0.6 wt%) as well as the broadest photocatalytic activity window. This method also proposes a great prospect to the development of highly active photocatalysts. .