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