title: Ta2O5 nanowires: a novel synthetic method and their solar energy utilization.
abstract: Single-crystalline uniform Ta(2)O(5) nanowires are prepared by a novel synthetic route. The formation of the nanowires involves an oriented attachment process caused by the reduction of surface energy. The nanowires are successfully applied to photocatalytic H(2) evolution, contaminant degradation, and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The Ta(2)O(5)-based DSCs reveal a significant photovoltaic response, which has not been reported. As a photocatalyst, the Ta(2)O(5) nanowires possess high H(2) evolution efficiency under Xe lamp irradiation, nearly 27-fold higher than the commercial powders. A better performance of photocatalytic contaminant degradation is also observed. Such improvements are ascribed to better charge transport ability for the single-crystalline wire and a higher potential energy of the conduction band. This new synthetic approach using a water-soluble precursor provides a versatile way to prepare nanostructured metal oxides.
authors: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, PR China.
authors: Xujie
authors: X
authors: Lü
authors: Shangjun
authors: S
authors: Ding
authors: Tianquan
authors: T
authors: Lin
authors: Xinliang
authors: X
authors: Mou
authors: Zhanglian
authors: Z
authors: Hong
authors: Fuqiang
authors: F
authors: Huang