p-Co₃O₄/n-TiO₂ nanoparticles (~400 nm) for photocatalysis were prepared via carbon assisted method and sol-gel method in this work. The paper also studied the application of visible light illuminated p-Co₃O₄/n-TiO₂ nanocomposites cocatalyst to the overall pure water splitting into H₂ and O₂. In addition, the H₂ evolution rate of the p-Co₃O₄/n-TiO₂ nanocomposites is 25% higher than that of the pure Co₃O₄ nanoparticles. Besides, according to the results of the characterizations, the scheme of visible light photocatalytic water splitting is proposed, the Co₃O₄ of the nanocomposites is excited by visible light, and the photo-generated electrons and holes existing on the conduction band of Co₃O₄ and valence band of TiO₂ have endowed the photocatalytic evolution of H₂ and O₂ with higher efficiency. The optimal evolution rate of H₂ and O₂ is 8.16 μmol/h·g and 4.0 μmol/h·g, respectively.
Keywords: nanocomposites; overall water splitting; photocatalysis; visible light.