Heterojunction CuO-TiO2 nanocomposite synthesis for significant photocatalytic hydrogen production

Effective and low-cost photocatalysts have been synthesized by a simple hydrothermal process. In this process, the two CuO and TiO 2 bound one over the other and formed a heterojunction CuO-TiO 2 nanocomposite. CuO serves as electron reservoir by receiving electrons from TiO 2, which suppresses the recombination of e − /h + and transfers the received electron to split water, which results in enhanced H 2 production. Heterojunction CuO-TiO 2 nanocomposite material recorded a maximum of 9284 μ molg −1 H 2 production for 2.5 h. The recorded result is 15 times higher than bare TiO 2 and 16 times higher than bare CuO. The synthesized materials were characterized and analyzed using various analytical techniques such as XRD, FTIR, UV–vis spectra and the morphology was studied using SEM, TEM, and HRTEM images.