A film of rutile TiO2 pillars with well-developed facets on an α-Ti substrate as a photoelectrode for improved water splitting.
A photoelectrode of single-crystal rutile TiO(2) pillars with well-developed facets shows a 2.5 times higher capability of water splitting at 0.3 V than a conventional anatase TiO(2) nanotube array electrode. The improvement is attributed to the synergistic effects of the high crystallinity of single-crystal rutile pillars, the exposed high-energy {011} and {111} as the reactive facets of water oxidation reaction and the extended light absorption range by ca. 23 nm.
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72# Wenhua RD, Shenyang 110016, China.
Chao
C
Zhen
Gang
G
Liu
Hui-Ming
HM
Cheng