Effect of carboxyl group on photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 nanowire arrays for water splitting.

ABSTRACT

TiO2 is one of the most studied semiconductor materials for the photoelectrochemical water splitting to hydrogen production, but it only responds to ultraviolet light. The introduction of organic compound is one of the common means to expand the visible light response of TiO2. In this work, rutile TiO2 nanowire arrays (NWs) were grown on conductive glass by a modified solvothermal method using oleic acid as the key additive. The obtained TiO2 NWs are characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and electrochemical characterization. The results show that the carboxyl groups arising from oleic acid are chemically bonded with the TiO2 NWs in the form of chelating bidentate, which increases the visible light absorption range and active sites of TiO2, and reduces the transfer resistance between the photoelectrode and the electrolyte. The photocurrent density is doubled to 0.17 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE. This work provides a novel idea for the design of metal oxide semiconductor photoanodes by adsorbing organic compounds.