title: A three-dimensional hierarchical TiO2 urchin as a photoelectrochemical anode with omnidirectional anti-reflectance properties.
abstract: In this communication, we report an innovative electrode design of 3D hierachical TiO2 urchin assembled with a hollow TiO2 spheres core and radial TiO2 nanorod shell prepared via a facile colloid template route combined with atomic layer deposition and a hydrothermal growth process. The periodically hierarchical TiO2 urchin exhibits excellent omnidirectional anti-reflectance properties in a wide range of wavelengths and angles of incidence (AOI). When tested as a photoanode for PEC water splitting, a greatly improved photoelectrochemical water splitting performance is obtained in comparison to that of TiO2 microspheres due to the improved light harvesting and charge collection efficiency.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-structured Materials, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China. cwcheng@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weina
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dezhi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chuanwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng