Hydrothermally synthesized highly dispersed Na2Ti3O7 nanotubes and their photocatalytic degradation and H2 evolution activity under UV and simulated solar light irradiation

Photocatalytic water splitting technologies are currently being considered for alternative energy sources. However, the strong demand for a high H<inf>2</inf> production rate will present conflicting requirements of excellent photoactivity and low-cost photocatalysts. The first alternative may be abundant nanostructured titanate-related materials as a photocatalyst. Here, we report highly dispersed Na<inf>2</inf>Ti<inf>3</inf>O<inf>7</inf> nanotubes synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and the water splitting under UV-visible light irradiation. Compared with commercial TiO<inf>2</inf>, the nanostructured Na<inf>2</inf>Ti<inf>3</inf>O<inf>7</inf> demonstrated excellent photodegradation and water splitting performance, thus addressing the need for low-cost photocatalysts. The as-synthesized Na<inf>2</inf>Ti<inf>3</inf>O<inf>7</inf> nanotubes exhibited desirable photodegradation, and rate of H<inf>2</inf> production was 1,755 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ and 1,130 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ under UV and simulated solar light irradiation, respectively; the resulting as-synthesized Na<inf>2</inf>Ti<inf>3</inf>O<inf>7</inf> nanotubes are active in UV light than that of visible light response.