Lightweight 3D-TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanotube Arrays on Ti Mesh for Promoted Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Ming Meng, Nan Qin, Lingling Sun, Yuanyuan Chen, Kun Xu, Yan Zhang, Mengyuan Liu, Shanshan Du, Kuili Liu, Yamin Feng, Gaoliang Wang, Honglei Yuan
Abstract
Lightweight 3D-TiO 2 nanotube arrays are successfully prepared via a simple anodization method. The lightweight 3D-TiO 2 nanotube arrays yield a photocurrent density of 0.57 mA/cm 2 at 0.22 V vs. Ag/AgCl with Faradic efficiency of 100%, which is 1.9 times larger than that of 2D-TiO 2 NTAs. The boosted performance is attributed to 3D arrays, which not only can effectively absorb the incident, reflected and/or refracted light from any direction surrounding the wire, but also provide larger surface areas of electrode/electrolyte junction. Moreover, the underlying Ti mesh serves as a direct channel for the rapid photoelectron-hole transport during the PEC water splitting process. This work offers a contribution to the practical applications of TiO 2 nanotube-based photoanodes.