Pseudobrookite based heterostructures for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Synthesis of ultrathin heterostructures has received much attention in the recent past due to their unique physical and chemical properties. In this work, we report the synthesis of Fe2TiO5–TiO2 heterostructures using a simple hydrothermal technique employing natural ilmenite as the source. Hierarchically arranged nanostructures with interconnected nano-petals of thickness around 50 ​nm are obtained. The electrocatalytic properties of the synthesized Fe2TiO5–TiO2 heterostructures are enhanced following the cathodization technique. The observed enhancement in the synthesized materials’ electrocatalytic property can be attributed to the defect-rich Fe2-xTiO5-x-TiO2-x heterostructures. The current approach and technique discussed in this work offer a simple method to synthesize a nanostructured heterostructure material and create defects for enhancing electrocatalytic activity. [Display omitted] •A wet-chemical approach towards the synthesis of Fe2TiO5–TiO2 heterostructures is proposed.•The interconnected nano-petal arrangement helps in facile electron delocalization and enhances the catalytic performance.•The cathodization technique creates more defects and leads to significant improvement in the electrocatalytic properties.•Superior over other chemical synthesis techniques due to fewer chemicals/solvents, easy scalability, and repeatability.•The derived heterostructures can be used for several applications related to catalysis, energy storage, and electronics.