Light trapping by porous TiO₂hollow hemispheres for high efficiency photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting has recently received increasing attention as a green fuel. The controlled nano-geometry of the photocatalytic material would improve light harvesting. In this research, as a proof-of-concept, hollow...

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting by a 3D hierarchical sea urchin-like structure: ZnO nanorod arrays on TiO2 hollow hemisphere

“…The porous structure can be observed in the magnified SEM image in figure 2(B). The average diameter of the nanopores is 60 nm, determined by the BJH analysis in BET measurement [23]. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of a pure anatase phase after annealing at 400 °C.…”

“…The synthesis of porous HSS was reported previously [23] on a titanium substrate (2 × 2 cm 2 ) using a specifically designed electrospraying method. ZnO NRs were vertically grown on the surface of the TiO 2 HHS using a CBD method.…”

“…Porous TiO 2 HHSs, as shown in figure 2, were successfully synthesized through the electrospraying method developed within the group [23]. The top view SEM image in figure 2(A) shows the relative homogeneous size of the TiO 2 HHSs with an average diameter of 3.0 μm.…”

“…Improving sunlight absorption is generally achieved by band gap engineering, although designing morphology and structure with light trapping performance is still limited. Our previous work demonstrated the light-trapping effects of the nanoporous TiO 2 HHS with enhanced utilization of photo energy and increased PEC performance [23]. However, its small surface area of 9.8 m 2 g −1 with an averaged pore diameter of 75 nm restricts the direct contact with the electrolyte, negatively impacting the oxygen evolution kinetics on the photoanode and the overall PEC performance.…”

Non-noble-metal TiC-nanoparticle-promoted charge separation and photocatalytic degradation performance on Bi2O3 microrods: degradation pathway and mechanism investigation

“…It is well known that the separation and transference ability of photoexcited charges significantly affects the catalytic activity of photocatalysts. 53,54 The performance of photogenerated charges was investigated by electrical impedance spectra (EIS) and PL measurements. Fig.…”