TiO₂ nanotubes sensitized with CdSe via RF magnetron sputtering for photoelectrochemical applications under visible light irradiation.
Highly ordered TiO2 NT arrays were easily decorated with CdSe via RF magnetron sputtering. After deposition thermal annealing at different temperatures was performed to obtain an improved TiO2/CdSe interface. The heterostructures were characterized by RBS, SEM, XRD, HRTEM, UV-Vis, EIS, IPCE and current versus voltage curves. The sensitized semiconducting electrodes display an enhanced photocurrent density of ca. 2 mA cm(-2) at 0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) under visible light (λ > 400 nm). The sensitized photoelectrodes displayed 3 and 535-fold enhanced photocurrent when compared to bare TiO2 NTs under 1 sun and under visible light illumination, respectively. IES results confirmed the improved charge transfer across the TiO2/CdSe/electrolyte interface after annealing at 400 °C. Incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency measurements confirmed the efficient sensitization by allowing photoresponse in the visible range.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Instituto de Química, PGCIMAT, Av. Bento Goncalves, 9500, P.O.Box 15003, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. jairton.dupont@ufrgs.br.
Jesum A
JA
Fernandes
Pedro
P
Migowski
Zacarias
Z
Fabrim
Adriano F
AF
Feil
Guilherme
G
Rosa
Sherdil
S
Khan
Guilherme J
GJ
Machado
Paulo F P
PF
Fichtner
Sérgio R
SR
Teixeira
Marcos J L
MJ
Santos
Jairton
J
Dupont