The electronegativity modulation of rutile TiO2 nanorods by phosphate and its photocatalytic hydrogen production performance

•TiO2-P-0.01 materials were prepared.•The surface electronic structure were studied.•The highest H2 production performance is 28 mmol·g−1·h−1. In this paper, PO was grafted on the surface of rutile TiO2 by one-step hydrothermal method. Due to the presence of the highly electronegative oxygen element, the surface of TiO2 often presented an electron-deficient state, which limited its application in reduction reactions. Herein, the low electronegativity element P from the phosphate was grafted on the surface of TiO2 to form a PO structure, which changes the electronic equilibrium state of the TiO2 and provide a new channel for electron migration. The surface of TiO2 presented an electron-enrich structure, which promoted the best hydrogen production performance around 28 mmol·g−1·h−1 on TiO2-P-0.01.