Preparations and Photoelectrochemical Performances of RGO-TiO₂ Nanotubes Arrays

Authors

Ze-Yang ZHANG, 1. State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China;
Lan SUN, 1. State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China;2. Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen 518057, Guangdong, China;Follow
Chang-Jian LIN, 1. State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China;

Corresponding Author

Lan SUN(sunlan@xmu.edu.cn)

Abstract

Decorating TiO₂ nanotube arrays with RGO to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ nanotube arrays has been reported. For the reported RGO-TiO₂ nanotube arrays, TiO₂ nanotube arrays were prepared by anodizing the high-purity Ti foil in an organic electrolyte for multiple-step treatments, while RGO were deposited on TiO₂ nanotube arrays by using cyclic voltammetry or other electrical reduction methods. To enhance the reduction degree and the coverage of RGO on the resultant RGO-TiO₂ nanotube arrays, in this work, the one-step electrochemical anodization in hydrofluoric acid was used to fabricate TiO₂ nanotube arrays with different wall thicknesses by adjusting the distance between the cathode and anode. RGO were loaded on the surface of TiO₂ nanotube arrays by pulse electroreduction deposition. When the distances between the cathode and anode were 4 and 0.5 cm, respectively, the corresponding wall thicknesses of the as-prepared TiO₂ nanotubes were 8 and 14 nm, respectively. Compared with the RGO loaded on the thin-walled TiO₂ nanotube arrays, the RGO loaded on the thick-walled TiO₂ nanotube arrays were fully reduced and the RGO coverage was greatly improved. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated that the reduction degree of RGO loaded on the thick-walled TiO₂ nanotube arrays was higher than that of RGO loaded on the thin-walled TiO₂ nanotube arrays with the decrease of the oxygen content. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy showed that the band gap of RGO-TiO₂ nanotube arrays became narrower than that of TiO₂ nanotube arrays due to the loading of RGO. The photocurrent measurements displayed that the photocurrent density of the RGO loaded thick-walled TiO₂ nanotube arrays was significantly increased accordingly, showing good light absorption properties, but also lower charge transfer resistance. The method and results presented in this work would lay a good foundation for the practical photoelectrochemical catalysis application of RGO-TiO₂ nanotube arrays.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

TiO2 nanotube array, reduced graphene oxide, photoelectrochemical performance

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.200211

Publication Date

2020-12-28

Online Available Date

2020-12-28

Revised Date

2020-03-27

Received Date

2020-02-11

Recommended Citation

Ze-Yang ZHANG, Lan SUN, Chang-Jian LIN. Preparations and Photoelectrochemical Performances of RGO-TiO₂ Nanotubes Arrays[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2020 , 26(6): 844-849.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.200211
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol26/iss6/5

References

[1] Fujishima A, Honda K . TiO₂ photoelectrochemistry and photocatalysis[J]. Nature, 1972,238(5358):37-38.

[2] Ma Y, Wang X, Jia Y S , et al. Titanium dioxide-based nanomaterials for photocatalytic fuel generations[J]. Chemical Reviews, 2014,114(19):9987-10043.
URL pmid: 25098384

[3] Ge M, Cao C, Huang J Y , et al. A review of one-dimensional TiO₂ nanostructured materials for environmental and energy applications[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2016,4(18):6772-6801.

[4] Wang X, Li Z D, Shi J , et al. One-dimensional titanium dioxide nanomaterials: nanowires, nanorods, and nanobelts[J]. Chemical Reviews, 2014,114(19):9346-9384.

[5] Dhakshinamoorthy A, Navalon S, Corma A , et al. Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction by TiO₂ and related titanium containing solids[J]. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012,5(11):9217-9233.

[6] Liu Q H, He J F, Yao T , et al. Aligned Fe₂TiO₅-containing nanotube arrays with low onset potential for visible-light water oxidation[J]. Nature Communications, 2014,5:5122.

[7] Park H A, Liu S, Oh Y , et al. Nano-photoelectrochemical cell arrays with spatially isolated oxidation and reduction channels[J]. ACS Nano, 2017,11(2):2150-2159.

[8] Wei Y Q, Li L Q, Fang W H , et al. Weak donor-acceptor interaction and interface polarization define photoexcitation dynamics in the MoS₂/TiO₂ composite: Time-domain Ab initio simulation[J]. Nano Letters, 2017,17(7):4038-4046.

[9] Wang M, Ioccozia J, Sun L , et al. Inorganic-modified semiconductor TiO₂ nanotube arrays for photocatalysis[J]. Energy & Environmental Science, 2014,7(7):2182-2202.

[10] Long R, English N J, Prezhdo O V . Minimizing Electronhole recombination on TiO₂ sensitized with PbSe quantum dots: Time-domain Ab initio analysis[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2014,5(17):2941-2946.

[11] Low J, Yu J, Jaroniec M , et al. Heterojunction photocatalysts[J]. Advanced Materials, 2017,29(20):1601694.

[12] Guo Q, Zhou C Y, Ma Z B , et al. Elementary photocatalytic chemistry on TiO₂ surfaces[J]. Chemical Society Reviews, 2016,45(13):3701-3730.
URL pmid: 26335268

[13] Zheng L X, Han S C, Liu H , et al. Hierarchical MoS₂ nanosheet@TiO₂ nanotube array composites with enhanced photocatalytic and photocurrent performances[J]. Small, 2016,12(11):1527-1536.

[14] Zhang X F, Zhang B Y, Huang D K , et al. TiO₂ nanotubes modified with electrochemically reduced graphene oxide for photoelectrochemical water splitting[J]. Carbon, 2014,80:591-598.

[15] Ge M Z, Li S H, Huang J Y , et al. TiO₂ nanotube arrays loaded with reduced graphene oxide films: facile hybridization and promising photocatalytic application[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2015,3(7):3491-3499.

[16] Li F, Zhang L, Tong J C , et al. Photocatalytic CO₂ conversion to methanol by Cu₂O/graphene/TNA heterostructure catalyst in a visible-light-driven dual-chamber reactor[J]. Nano Energy, 2016,27:320-329.

[17] Lai Y, Sun L, Chen Y , et al. Effects of the structure of TiO₂ nanotube array on Ti substrate on its photocatalytic activity[J]. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2006,153(7):D123-D127.

[18] Vogel D J, Kilin D S . First-principles treatment of photoluminescence in semiconductors[J]. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2015,119(50):27954-27964.

[19] Yeh T F, Chan F F, Hsieh C T , et al. Graphite oxide with different oxygenated levels for hydrogen and oxygen production from water under illumination: the band positions of graphite oxide[J]. The Journal of Physical Phemistry C, 2011,115(45):22587-22597.

[20] Huang Y, Gao Y, Zhang Q , et al. Biocompatible FeOOH-Carbon quantum dots nanocomposites for gaseous NO_x removal under visible light: Improved charge separation and high selectivity[J]. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2018,354:54-62.