@article{Gao2026, 
author = {Hao Gao and Xiaoxiao He and Shuting Zhi and Songjie Sun and Yang Yang and Wenwen Zhan and Haobo Zhang and Lei Yang and Xiguang Han and Jianwei Zhao and Liming Sun},
title = {Synergistic promotion of charge dynamics, H2O activation, and dehydrogenation for enhanced visible-light H2 production on modified TiO2},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {1},
pages = {94908221},
keywords = {charge separation, TiO2, substitutional doping, hydrogen production, visible-light photocatalysis},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908221},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908221},
abstract = {To simultaneously improve the critical factors in photocatalytic H2 production, the population of active photogenerated electrons, the adsorption and activation of H2O molecules, and the surface dehydrogenation efficiency, we propose a synergistic strategy for TiO2 modification by combining transition metal (TM) doping and N-doped carbon (N-C) coating. The targeted Cr-TiO2@N-C heterojunction exhibits dramatically enhanced H2 production under blue light irradiation, contrasting sharply with a negligible production by pristine TiO2. Comprehensive structural characterization and theoretical calculations confirm the uniform substitution of Cr into the TiO2 lattice, promoting the formation of adjacent oxygen vacancies (VO). The synergistic effect of Cr doping and VO extends the light absorption range into the visible region. The coated N-C layer facilitates the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers, boosting the population of active electrons. Critically, the combined action of VO and N-C layer enhances the adsorption and activation of H2O molecules while effectively improving the subsequent surface dehydrogenation efficiency. Significantly, this strategy demonstrates broad universality: Analogous TM-TiO2@N-C heterojunctions (TM = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) synthesized via the same approach all show substantially improved H2 production performance over pristine TiO2.}
}