Fabrication of the hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst with mesoporous structure

The photocatalyst TiO2 with a wormhole-like mesoporous structure and narrow pore distribution were successfully synthesized using triethanolamine as template. The complex oxides InVO4 with a relatively high surface area, a visible light active hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst, were obtained by means of the templating hydrothermal method with a variety of surfactants. InVO4 with wormhole-like structure were fabricated by templating of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. By comparing with the non-mesoporous samples, the mesoporous photocatalysts exhibited higher photocatlytic hydrogen evolution activity for water splitting in the absence and in the presence of oxalic acid.