Study on the synthesis of Ni doped mesoporous TiO₂ and its photocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution in aqueous methanol solution

Ni doped mesoporous TiO₂ photocatalyst was prepared. XRD and EDX results indicated that Ni²⁺ was incorporated into the framework of the mesoporous TiO₂ in a highly dispersed way. The results of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in aqueous methanol solution under UV-Vis light irradiation showed that activity of hydrogen production strongly depended on the amount of Ni doped. The highest activity was achieved with Ni doping of 1%. The experimental results were rationalized by assuming that Ni²⁺ serves as shallow trapping sites, greatly enhancing the activity of the mesoporous photocatalyst.