Abstract
This paper describes a type of photoanode for water photoelectrolysis based on 3-D configurations of TiO2 nanotube arrays, which are grown on Ti meshes in a radially outward direction. When compared with traditional 2-D arrays, under the same light irradiance, 3-D nanotube arrays demonstrate a higher surface area, which improves the photocurrent by ∼36.4% for water photoelectrolysis. In addition, the radial nature of 3-D arrays is capable of harvesting the incident light from any direction, leading to a low dependence of photocurrent on the angle of incident light. The effect of nanotube lengths on the photocatalytic activity of 3-D arrays for water photoelectrolysis has been investigated systematically. The addition of ethylene glycol in the electrolyte to function as a hole-scavenger further improves the photocurrent of 3-D arrays by ∼40%.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 10354-10358 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Materials Chemistry |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 28 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Jul 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |