Engineering the surface structure of semiconductor is one of the most promising strategies for improving the separation and transfer efficiency of charge, which is a key issue in photocatalysis. Here, we designed and fabricated the C decorated hollow TiO2 photocatalysts (C–TiO2), in which 3-aminophenol-formaldehyde resin (APF) spheres were used as template and carbon precursor. It was determined that the C content can be easily controlled by calcinating the APF spheres with different time. Moreover, the synergetic effort between the optimal C content and the formed Ti–O–C bonds in C–TiO2 were determined to increase the light absorption and greatly promote the separation and transfer of charge in the photocatalytic reaction, which is verified from UV–vis, PL, photocurrent, and EIS characterizations. Remarkably, the activity of the C–TiO2 is 5.5-fold higher than that of TiO2 in H2 evolution. A feasible strategy for rational design and construction of surface-engineered hollow photocatalysts to improve the photocatalytic performance was provided in this study.

中文翻译：

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空心结构 TiO2 纳米球的表面修饰增强光催化析氢

设计半导体的表面结构是提高电荷分离和转移效率最有前途的策略之一，这是光催化中的关键问题。在这里，我们设计并制造了C装饰的空心TiO2光催化剂（C-TiO2），其中3-氨基苯酚甲醛树脂（APF）球体用作模板和碳前驱体。结果表明，通过不同时间的煅烧APF球可以很容易地控制C含量。此外，最佳C含量和C-TiO2中形成的Ti-O-C键之间的协同作用被确定可以增加光吸收并极大地促进光催化反应中电荷的分离和转移，这一点从UV- vis、PL、光电流和 EIS 表征。值得注意的是，C-TiO2 的析氢活性比 TiO2 高 5.5 倍。本研究为合理设计和构建表面工程空心光催化剂以提高光催化性能提供了可行的策略。