Uniformly dispersed CdS/CdSe quantum dots co-sensitized TiO2 nanotube arrays with high photocatalytic property under visible light

Effect of the Support Nanostructure (Nanofibers and Nanotubes) on the Photoelectrochemical Performance of TiO2-CdO@CdS Semiconducting Architectures

“…TiO 2 nanostructures with different morphologies as nanotubes, nanofibers, nanorods, nanospheres and nanowires [10][11][12][13][14][15] have been then sensitized by nanocrystalline chalcogenide semiconductors such as CdS, CdSe, PbS, Bi 2 S 3 , Sb 2 S 3 and SnSe. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Due its high absorption coefficient in the visible light region and its narrow bandgap (∼2.4 eV), CdS has been particularly studied for such a purpose, alone [19][20][21][22] or coupled to CdSe, PbS and Ag 2 S. [23][24][25][26] All the experimental results reported on such hetero-nanostructures converge to claim a net increase of the PEC performances compared to those measured on pristine TiO 2 , the co-sensitized ones giving the best photoconversion yields. Focusing on this kind of complex architectures, we are interested in CdO and CdS, since these semiconductors have shown good photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic activity when being coupled as nanocomposite, nanorods and nanoboxes.…”