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Issue 4, 2012
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Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO2nanotube arrays†

Zhonghai Zhanga  and  Peng Wang*a  
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* 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.

Graphical abstract: Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO2 nanotube arrays

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Article information

Submitted
14 Dec 2011
Accepted
09 Feb 2012
First published
10 Feb 2012
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license
Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 6506-6512
Article type
Paper
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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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