title: Effect of post-annealing treatment on photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performances of TiO2 nanotube arrays photoelectrode.
abstract: Highly ordered TiO2 nano-tube arrays (TNTAs) photoelectrodes were prepared through anodization method, followed by annealing treatment. Morphologies and structures of the as-prepared TNTAs samples were investigated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the optical and photoelectrochemical (PECH) properties were investigated through ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) and transient photocurrent response. Furthermore, the photodecomposition performances were investigated through the yield of hydroxyl (*OH) radicals and photocatalytic (PC) degradation of RhB under Xenon light irradiation. Results indicated that the TNTAs samples annealed at 723 K exhibited the highest photocurrent response, PC performance and yield of *OH radicals, in which 60.8% of RhB could be degraded by PC degradation within 60 min. The high PC performance could mainly be attributed to the anatase structure, high crystallinity and highly ordered nano-tubular structure, which favored the transfer and separation of photoinduced charge carriers. This study suggests that highly ordered nano-structure could provide superior pathway for the charge transfer and separation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering Process and Technology for High-efficiency Conversion, College of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150080, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiuwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xiujuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umar
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang