Sunlight-driven hydrogen production from water splitting, assisted with the commonly used Pt/TiO2 catalyst, is a promising way to store clean and renewable energy. However, the photocatalytic activity of Pt/TiO2 is limited owing to the agglomeration of Pt atoms. Herein, we successfully synthesized a Pt/TiO2 catalyst, where Pt is atomically and selectively dispersed on the (1 0 1) facets of nanosized TiO2 single crystals. A remarkably higher photocatalytic activity for H-2 evolution together with a considerable stability was observed as compared to commonly used Pt/TiO2. This study demonstrates a promising way to achieve atomically dispersed highly-active catalyst for water splitting. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.