TiO2 Nanowires on TiO2 Nanotubes Arrays (TNWs/TNAs) Decorated with Au Nanoparticles and Au Nanorods for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting and Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue
Source abstract
Abstract
In this study, TiO2 nanowires on TiO2 nanotubes arrays (TNWs/TNAs) and Au-decorated TNWs/TNAs nanostructures are designed and fabricated as a new type of photoanode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The TNWs/TNAs were fabricated on Ti folds by anodization using an aqueous NH4F/ethylene glycol solution, while Au nanoparticles (NPs) and Au nanorods (NRs) were synthesized by Turkevich methods. We studied the crystal structure, morphology, and PEC activity of four types of nanomaterial photoanodes, including TNWs/TNAs, Au NPs- TNWs/TNAs, Au NRs-TNWs/TNAs, and Au NPs-NRs-TNWs/TNAs. The TiO2 and Au-TiO2 samples exhibited pure anatase phase of TiO2 with (0 0 4), (1 0 1), and (1 0 5) preferred orientations, while Au-TiO2 presented a tiny XRD peak of Au (111) due to a small Au decorated content of 0.7 ± 0.2 at.%. In addition, the samples obtained a well-defined and uniformed structure of TNAs/TNWs; Au NPs (size of 19.0 ± 1.9 nm) and Au NRs (width of 14.8 ± 1.3 nm and length of 99.8 ± 15.1 nm) were primarily deposited on TNWs top layer; sharp Au/TiO2 interfaces were observed from HRTEM images. The photocurrent density (J) of the photoanode nanomaterials was in the range of 0.24–0.4 mA/cm2. Specifically, Au NPs-NRs- decorated TNWs/TNAs attained the highest J value of 0.4 mA/cm2 because the decoration of Au NPs and Au NRs mixture onto TNWs/TNAs improved the light harvesting capability and the light absorption in the visible-infrared region, enhanced photogenerated carriers’ density, and increased electrons’ injection efficiency via the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect occurring at the Au nanostructures. Furthermore, amongst the investigated nanophotocatalysts, the Au NPs-NRs TNWs/TNAs exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue with a high reaction rate constant of 0.7 ± 0.07 h−1, which was 2.5 times higher than that of the pristine TNWs/TNAs.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques · TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells · Copper-based nanomaterials and applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Faculty of Applied Science, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology-VNUHCM, 268 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam
Department of Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 179 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam
Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Can Tho University, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 179 Nguyen Van Cu, Can Tho 94000, Vietnam
Department of Drug Quality Control-Analytical Chemistry-Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 179 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam
Faculty of Pharmacy, Nam Can Tho University, 168 Nguyen Van Cu (Ext) Street, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 179 Nguyen Van Cu, Can Tho 94000, Vietnam
Institute of Applied Technology, Thu Dau Mot University, Thu Dau Mot City 820000, Vietnam
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 84001, Taiwan
Department of Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan
Institute of Physics and Center for Emergent Functional Matter Science, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Funding
Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED)
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