Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO2 nanotube arrays

Zhonghai Zhang; Peng Wang

doi:10.1039/C2EE03461A

Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO₂ nanotube arrays

Zhonghai Zhang^a and Peng Wang*^a

* Corresponding authors

^a Chemical and Life Science and Engineering Division, Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
E-mail: peng.wang@kaust.edu.sa

Abstract

In this paper, we show that by varying the voltages during two-step anodization the morphology of the hierarchical top-layer/bottom-tube TiO₂ (TiO₂ NTs) can be finely tuned between nanoring/nanotube, nanopore/nanotube, and nanohole–nanocave/nanotube morphologies. This allows us to optimize the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance on the hierarchical TiO₂ NTs. The optimized photocurrent density and photoconversion efficiency in this study, occurring on the nanopore/nanotube TiO₂ NTs, were 1.59 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V vs. RHE and 0.84% respectively, which are the highest values ever reported on pristine TiO₂ materials under illumination of AM 1.5G. Our findings contribute to further improvement of the energy conversion efficiency of TiO₂-based devices.

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Publication details

The article was received on 14 Dec 2011, accepted on 09 Feb 2012 and first published on 10 Feb 2012

Article type: Paper

DOI: 10.1039/C2EE03461A

Citation: Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 6506-6512

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Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO₂ nanotube arrays

Z. Zhang and P. Wang, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 6506
DOI: 10.1039/C2EE03461A

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Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO₂ nanotube arrays

Abstract

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Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO₂ nanotube arrays

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