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The development of hydrogen (H2) gas sensors is essential for the safe and efficient adoption of H2 gas as a clean, renewable energy source in the challenges against climate change, given its flammability and associated safety risks. Among various H2 sensors, gasochromic sensors have attracted great interest due to their highly intuitive and low power operation, but slow kinetics, especially slow recovery rate limited its further practical application. This study introduces Pd-decorated amorphous WO3 nanorods (Pd-WO3 NRs) as an innovative gasochromic H2 sensor, demonstrating rapid and highly reversible color changes for H2 detection. In specific, the amorphous nanostructure exhibits notable porosity, enabling rapid detection and recovery by facilitating effective H2 gas interaction and efficient diffusion of hydrogen ions (H+) dissociated from the Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs). The optimized Pd-WO3 NRs sensor achieves an impressive response time of 14 s and a recovery time of 1 s to 5% H2. The impressively fast recovery time of 1 s is observed under a wide range of H2 concentrations (0.2-5%), making this study a fundamental solution to the challenged slow recovery of gasochromic H2 sensors.
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In the pandemic era, the development of high-performance indoor air quality monitoring sensors has become more critical than ever. NO2 is one of the most toxic gases in daily life, which induces severe respiratory diseases. Thus, the real-time monitoring of low concentrations of NO2 is highly required. Herein, a visible light-driven ultrasensitive and selective chemoresistive NO2 sensor is presented based on sulfur-doped SnO2 nanoparticles. Sulfur-doped SnO2 nanoparticles are synthesized by incorporating l-cysteine as a sulfur doping agent, which also increases the surface area. The cationic and anionic doping of sulfur induces the formation of intermediate states in the band gap, highly contributing to the substantial enhancement of gas sensing performance under visible light illumination. Extraordinary gas sensing performances such as the gas response of 418 to 5 ppm of NO2 and a detection limit of 0.9 ppt are achieved under blue light illumination. Even under red light illumination, sulfur-doped SnO2 nanoparticles exhibit stable gas sensing. The endurance to humidity and long-term stability of the sensor are outstanding, which amplify the capability as an indoor air quality monitoring sensor. Overall, this study suggests an innovative strategy for developing the next generation of electronic noses.
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Cisteína , Nanopartículas , Luz , Dióxido de Nitrogênio , Enxofre , Compostos de EstanhoRESUMO
Numerous studies have explored new materials for electrocatalysts, but it is difficult to discover materials that surpass the catalytic activity of current commercially available noble metal electrocatalysts. In contrast to conventional transition metal alloys, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have immense potential to maximize their catalytic properties because of their high stability and compositional diversity as oxygen evolution reactions (OERs). This work presents medium-entropy alloys (MEAs) as OER electrocatalysts to simultaneously satisfy the requirement of high catalytic activity and long-term stability. The surface of MEA electrocatalyst is tailored to suit the OER via anodizing and cyclic voltammetry activation methods. Optimized electrical properties and hydrophilicity of the surface enable an extremely low overpotential of 187 mV for achieving the current density of 10 mA cm-2 alkaline media. Furthermore, a combined photovoltaic-electrochemical system with MEA electrocatalyst and a perovskite/Si tandem solar cell exhibits a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 20.6% for an unassisted hydrogen generation system. These results present a new pathway for designing sustainable high efficiency water splitting cells.
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To construct a highly efficient photoelectrochemical tandem device with silicon photocathode operating in alkaline conditions, it is desirable to develop stable and active catalysts which enable the photocathode to reliably perform under an alkaline environment. With nanostructured passivation layer and edge-exposed transition metal disulfides, silicon photocathode provides new opportunities for achieving unbiased alkaline solar water splitting. Here, the TiO2 nanorod arrays decorated by edge-rich MoS2 nanoplates are elaborately synthesized and deposited on p-Si. The vertically aligned TiO2 nanorods fully stabilize the Si surface and improve anti-reflectance. Moreover, MoS2 nanoplates with exposed edge sites provide catalytically active regions resulting in the kinetically favored hydrogen evolution under an alkaline environment. Interfacial energy band bending between p-Si and catalyst layers facilitates the transport of photogenerated electrons under steady-state illumination. Consequently, the MoS2 nanoplates/TiO2 nanorods/p-Si photocathode exhibits significantly improved photoelectrochemical-hydrogen evolution reaction (PEC-HER) performance in alkaline media with a high photocurrent density of 10 mA cm-2 at 0 V versus RHE and high stability. By integrating rationally designed photocathode with earth-abundant Fe60 (NiCo)30 Cr10 anode and perovskite/Si tandem photovoltaic cell, an unassisted alkaline solar water splitting is accomplished with a current density of 5.4 mA cm-2 corresponding to 6.6% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, which is the highest among p-Si photocathodes.
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As the BO6 octahedral structure in perovskite oxide is strongly linked with electronic behavior, it is actively studied for various fields such as metal-insulator transition, superconductivity, and so on. However, the research about the relationship between water-splitting activity and BO6 structure is largely lacking. Here, we report the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of LaNiO3 (LNO) by changing the NiO6 structure using compositional change and strain. The 5 atom % La deficiency in LNO resulted in an increase of the Ni-O-Ni bond angle and an expansion of bandwidth, enhancing the charge transfer ability. In-plane compressive strain derives the higher dz2 orbital occupancy, leading to suitable metal-oxygen bond strength for OER. Because of the synergistic effect of A-site deficiency and compressive strain, the overpotential (η) of compressively strained L0.95NO film is reduced to 130 mV at j = 30 µA/cm2 compared with nonstrained LNO (η = 280 mV), indicating a significant enhancement in OER.
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An important factor in the performance of photoelectrochemical water splitting is the band edge alignment of the photoelectrodes for efficient transport and transfer of photogenerated carriers. Many studies for improving charge transfer ability between the electrode and the electrolyte have been reported, while research to improve charge transfer at the interface of the photoactive semiconductor and the conducting substrate is largely lacking. Here, we demonstrate that the water-splitting performance of an oxide heterostructured photoelectrode can be increased 6-fold by inserting an atomically thin polar LaAlO3 interlayer compared with that of an oxide heterostructure without an insertion to modify interfacial band offsets. The electrically lowered Schottky barrier is driven by the atomically thin layer, and the charge transfer resistance between the oxides is reduced by up to 2 orders of magnitude upon insertion of LaAlO3, a wide-gap (5.6 eV) insulator. We show that the critical thickness of the polar layer for enhancing the charge transfer is 3 unit cells. The dipole moment from the polar sheets of LaAlO3 introduces an internal electric field, which modifies the effective band offsets in the device. This work serves as a proof of concept that photoelectrochemical performance can be improved by manipulating the band offsets of the heterostructure interface, suggesting a new design strategy for heterostructured water-splitting photoelectrodes.
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BACKGROUND: The risk for obesity-related diseases increases with the prevalence of obesity. In obesity, adipokines secreted from adipose tissue induce inflammation, causing adverse effects. Recently, adipokines such as apelin, visfatin, and chemerin have been studied. Long-term resistance training improves health in middle-aged women by improving metabolic risk factors, body composition, and muscle strength. However, there is still a lack of evidence on the association of apelin concentration with different exercise types in middle-aged obese women This study aimed to investigate the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic and resistance exercises on apelin-12 and apelin-36 levels and thereby verify the effects of different exercise types in obese, middle-aged women. METHODS: Participants were middle-aged women aged 50-61 years, with no experience of systematic exercise in the last 6 months, and met the WHO obesity criteria for the Asia-Pacific region of waist circumference ≥ 80 cm and body fat percentage ≥ 30%. Subjects were selected and allocated to the aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or no exercise group by block randomization. Body weight, body fat, and body mass index were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Analysis of variance, the t-test, and Tukey's post-hoc test were performed. RESULTS: A total of 24 participants were selected with eight participants in each group. Both aerobic and resistance exercises were effective in altering the physical composition, showing significant decreases in weight, waist circumference, BMI, and body fat. The aerobic and resistance exercise group showed a significant, positive change in apelin-12 levels. CONCLUSIONS: In obese individuals, aerobic and resistance exercise were effective in improving obesity and reducing blood apelin-12 concentration, which is closely correlated with indicators of metabolic syndrome. Future research should focus on comparing the response of apelin to exercise in obese subjects treated with only dietary control and the response in the obese subjects of different ages and sex. TRIAL REGISTRATION: No. 1040917-201,506-BR-153-04 , Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), Republic of Korea (05 October 2018, retrospectively registered).
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Apelina/metabolismo , Peptídeos e Proteínas de Sinalização Intercelular/metabolismo , Obesidade/metabolismo , Obesidade/terapia , Treinamento Resistido , Composição Corporal , Índice de Massa Corporal , Peso Corporal , Exercício Físico/fisiologia , Terapia por Exercício , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Síndrome Metabólica , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , República da Coreia , Estudos RetrospectivosRESUMO
In this work, CsPbBr3 and PbSe nanocomposites were synthesized to protect perovskite material from self-enlargement during reaction. UV absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the addition of Se into CsPbBr3 quantum dots modified the electronic structure of CsPbBr3, increasing the band gap from 2.38 to 2.48 eV as the Cs:Se ratio increased to 1:3. Thus, the emission color of CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots was modified from green to blue by increasing the Se ratio in composites. According to X-ray diffraction patterns, the structure of CsPbBr3 quantum dots changed from cubic to orthorhombic due to the introduction of PbSe at the surface. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy confirmed that the atomic distribution in CsPbBr3/PbSe composite clusters is uniform and the composite materials were well formed. The PL intensity of a CsPbBr3/PbSe sample with a 1:1 Cs:Se ratio maintained 50% of its initial intensity after keeping the sample for 81 h in air, while the PL intensity of CsPbBr3 reduced to 20% of its initial intensity. Therefore, it is considered that low amounts of Se could improve the stability of CsPbBr3 quantum dots.
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Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF-2) is widely used to modulate the proliferation and differentiation of certain cell types. An expression and purification system for recombinant human FGF-2 in Escherichia coli was established for the purpose of securing a continuous supply of this protein. The purified recombinant FGF-2 significantly increased the population of human embryonic stem cells. The optimal concentrations of FGF-2 for cell proliferative induction in various adult stem cells including human dental pulp stem cells, full term human periodontal ligament stem cells, human gingival fibroblasts, mesenchymal stem cells, and osteogenic oseosarcoma were established in a dose-dependent manner. When cells were treated with recombinant FGF-2 for 6 days before osteogenic induction, the mRNA expression of the bone markers was upregulated in cells originated from human dental pulp tissue, indicating that pretreatment with FGF-2 during culture increase stem cell/progenitor population and osteogenic potential.
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Diferenciação Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Polpa Dentária/citologia , Fator 2 de Crescimento de Fibroblastos/farmacologia , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/efeitos dos fármacos , Osteoblastos/efeitos dos fármacos , Células-Tronco/efeitos dos fármacos , Células Cultivadas , Humanos , Células-Tronco Mesenquimais/citologia , Osteoblastos/citologia , Proteínas Recombinantes/farmacologia , Células-Tronco/citologiaRESUMO
Implementing high-performance ultraviolet C photodetectors (UVC PDs) based on ß-Ga2 O3 films is challenging owing to the anisotropic crystal symmetry between the epitaxial films and substrates. In this study, highly enhanced state-of-the-art photoelectrical performance is achieved using single-domain epitaxy of monoclinic ß-Ga2 O3 films on a hexagonal sapphire substrate. Unlike 3D ß-Ga2 O3 films with twin domains, 2D ß-Ga2 O3 films exhibit a single domain with a smooth surface and low concentration of point defects, which enable efficient charge separation by suppressing boundary-induced recombination. Furthermore, a tailored anti-reflection coating (ARC) is adopted as a light-absorbing medium to improve charge generation. The tailored nanostructure, which features a gradient refractive index, not only substantially reduces the reflection, but also suppresses the surface leakage current as a passivation layer. This study provides fundamental insights into the single-domain epitaxy of ß-Ga2 O3 films and the application of ARC for the development of high-performance UVC PDs.
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The current memory system is facing obstacles to improvement, and ReRAM is considered a powerful alternative. All-inorganic α-CsPbI3 perovskite-based ReRAM working by electrochemical mechanism is reported, but the electrochemically active electrode raised difficulty in long-term stable operation, and bulk α-CsPbI3 device can not show resistive switching behavior with an inert metal top electrode. Herein, by making the α-CsPbI3 into QDs and applying it to the device with inert Au as the top electrode, the devices working by valence change mechanism are successfully fabricated. The large surface-to-volume ratio made an abundant amount of iodine vacancies and facile migration of vacancies allowed the device to work by valence change mechanism. The devices show reliable electrical characteristics, 800 cycles endurance and retention for over 4 × 104 s, and air stability for 1 month. This work demonstrates that applying the QDs can improve the stability and enable a new type of working mechanism in ReRAM.
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Micro-light-emitting diodes (µLEDs) have gained significant interest as an activation source for gas sensors owing to their advantages, including room temperature operation and low power consumption. However, despite these benefits, challenges still exist such as a limited range of detectable gases and slow response. In this study, we present a blue µLED-integrated light-activated gas sensor array based on SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) that exhibit excellent sensitivity, tunable selectivity, and rapid detection with micro-watt level power consumption. The optimal power for µLED is observed at the highest gas response, supported by finite-difference time-domain simulation. Additionally, we first report the visible light-activated selective detection of reducing gases using noble metal-decorated SnO2 NPs. The noble metals induce catalytic interaction with reducing gases, clearly distinguishing NH3, H2, and C2H5OH. Real-time gas monitoring based on a fully hardware-implemented light-activated sensing array was demonstrated, opening up new avenues for advancements in light-activated electronic nose technologies.
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A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated KIS14-15(T), was isolated from forest soil of Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea in Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic study. Strain KIS14-15(T) grew optimally at 30 °C, at pH 6.0-7.0 and without NaCl. In the neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain KIS14-15(T) formed a cluster with the strains of Reyranella massiliensis with a bootstrap resampling value of 100%. Strain KIS14-15(T) exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 98.0% to R. massiliensis 521(T) and of less than 89% to the type strains of other taxa. The mean level of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain KIS14-15(T) and R. massiliensis KACC 16548(T) was 21% (reciprocal, 24%). The predominant ubiquinone found in strain KIS14-15(T) and R. massiliensis KACC 16548(T) was ubiquinone-10 (Q-10). The predominant fatty acids of strain KIS14-15(T) and R. massiliensis KACC 16548(T) were C(18:1)ω7c, C(18:1) 2-OH and 11-methyl C(18:1)ω7c. Total polar lipids of strain KIS14-15(T) were phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, one unknown aminolipid and one unknown lipid. Differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness, demonstrated that strain KIS14-15(T) is distinguishable from R. massiliensis. On the basis of the data presented, strain KIS14-15(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Reyranella, for which the name Reyranella soli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KIS14-15(T) (â=âKACC 13034(T)â=NBRC 108950(T)).
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Alphaproteobacteria/classificação , Filogenia , Microbiologia do Solo , Alphaproteobacteria/genética , Alphaproteobacteria/isolamento & purificação , Técnicas de Tipagem Bacteriana , Composição de Bases , DNA Bacteriano/genética , Ácidos Graxos/análise , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Hibridização de Ácido Nucleico , RNA Ribossômico 16S/genética , República da Coreia , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Árvores/microbiologia , Ubiquinona/análiseRESUMO
Noble metal nanoparticle decoration is a representative strategy to enhance selectivity for fabricating chemical sensor arrays based on the 2-dimensional (2D) semiconductor material, represented by molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). However, the mechanism of selectivity tuning by noble metal decoration on 2D materials has not been fully elucidated. Here, we successfully decorated noble metal nanoparticles on MoS2 flakes by the solution process without using reducing agents. The MoS2 flakes showed drastic selectivity changes after surface decoration and distinguished ammonia, hydrogen, and ethanol gases clearly, which were not observed in general 3D metal oxide nanostructures. The role of noble metal nanoparticle decoration on the selectivity change is investigated by first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. While the H2 sensitivity shows a similar tendency with the calculated binding energy, that of NH3 is strongly related to the binding site deactivation due to preferred noble metal particle decoration at the MoS2 edge. This finding is a specific phenomenon which originates from the distinguished structure of the 2D material, with highly active edge sites. We believe that our study will provide the fundamental comprehension for the strategy to devise the highly efficient sensor array based on 2D materials.
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Hydrogels are promising material for wound dressing and tissue engineering. However, owing to their low tissue adhesion in a moist environment and lack of flexibility, hydrogels are still not widely applied in movable parts, such as joints. Herein, we report a dual-crosslinked hydrogel adhesive using a dopamine-modified and acrylate-terminated crosslinker, tri(ethylene glycol) diacrylate-dopamine crosslinker (TDC). The covalent crosslinking was formed by photopolymerization between acrylic acid (AA) and TDC, and the noncovalent crosslinking was formed by intermolecular dopamine-dopamine and dopamine-AA interactions. Our resultant hydrogel demonstrated strong tissue adhesion in a moist environment (approximately 71 kPa) and high mechanical resilience (approximately 94%) with immediate recovery at a 200% strain rate. Moreover, it accelerated wound healing upon dressing the wound site properly. Our study provides the potential for advanced polymer synthesis by introducing a functional crosslinking agent.
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Hidrogéis , Adesivos Teciduais , Adesivos , Bandagens , Dopamina , Humanos , Aderências TeciduaisRESUMO
Direct consideration for both, the catalytically active species and the host materials provides highly efficient strategies for the architecture design of nanostructured catalysts. The conventional wet chemical methods have limitations in achieving such unique layer-by-layer design possessing one body framework with many catalyst parts. Herein, an innovative physical method is presented that allows the well-regulated architecture design for an array of functional nanocatalysts as exemplified by layer-by-layer adornment of Pd nanoparticles (NPs) on the highly arrayed silica nanorods. This spatially confined catalyst exhibits excellent efficiency for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes and widely deployed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions; their facile separation from the reaction mixtures is easily accomplished due to the monolithic structure. The generality of this method for the introduction of other metal source has also been demonstrated with Au NPs. This pioneering effort highlights the feasibility of physically controlled architecture design of nanostructured catalysts which may stimulate further studies in the general domain of the heterogeneous catalytic transformations.
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α-Gallium oxide, with its large band gap energy, is a promising material for utilization in power devices. Sapphire, which has the same crystal structure as α-Ga2O3, has been used as a substrate for α-Ga2O3 epitaxial growth. However, lattice and thermal expansion coefficient mismatches generate a high density of threading dislocations (TDs) and cracks in films. Here, we demonstrated the growth of α-Ga2O3 films with reduced TD density and residual stress on microcavity-embedded sapphire substrates (MESS). We fabricated the two types of substrates with microcavities: diameters of 1.5 and 2.2 µm, respectively. We confirmed that round conical-shaped cavities with smaller diameters are beneficial for the lateral overgrowth of α-Ga2O3 crystals with lower TD densities by mist chemical vapor deposition. We could obtain crack-free high-crystallinity α-Ga2O3 films on MESS, while the direct growth on a bare sapphire substrate resulted in an α-Ga2O3 film with a number of cracks. TD densities of α-Ga2O3 films on MESS with 1.5 and 2.2 µm cavities were measured to be 1.77 and 6.47 × 108 cm-2, respectively. Furthermore, cavities in MESS were certified to mitigate the residual stress via the redshifted Raman peaks of α-Ga2O3 films. Finally, we fabricated Schottky diodes based on α-Ga2O3 films grown on MESS with 1.5 and 2.2 µm cavities, which exhibited high breakdown voltages of 679 and 532 V, respectively. This research paves the way to fabricating Schottky diodes with high breakdown voltages based on high-quality α-Ga2O3 films.
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Formation of type II heterojunctions is a promising strategy to enhance the photoelectrochemical performance of water-splitting photoanodes, which has been tremendously studied. However, there have been few studies focusing on the formation of type II heterojunctions depending on the thickness of the overlayer. Here, enhanced photoelectrochemical activities of a Fe2O3 film deposited-BiVO4/WO3 heterostructure with different thicknesses of the Fe2O3 layer have been investigated. The Fe2O3 (10 nm)/BiVO4/WO3 heterojunction photoanode shows a much higher photocurrent density compared to the Fe2O3 (100 nm)/BiVO4/WO3 photoanode. The Fe2O3 (10 nm)/BiVO4/WO3 trilayer heterojunction anodes have sequential type II junctions, while a thick Fe2O3 overlayer forms an inverse type II junction between Fe2O3 and BiVO4. Furthermore, the incident-photon-to-current efficiency measured under back-illumination is higher than those measured under front-illumination, demonstrating the importance of the illumination sequence for light absorption and charge transfer and transport. This study shows that the thickness of the oxide overlayer influences the energy band alignment and can be a strategy to improve solar water splitting performance. Based on our findings, we propose a photoanode design strategy for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting.
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Although bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has been promising as photoanode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting, its charge recombination issue by short charge diffusion length has led to various studies about heterostructure photoanodes. As a hole blocking layer of BiVO4, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been considered unsuitable because of its relatively positive valence band edge and low electrical conductivity. Herein, a crystal facet engineering of TiO2 nanostructures is proposed to control band structures for the hole blocking layer of BiVO4 nanodots. We design two types of TiO2 nanostructures, which are nanorods (NRs) and nanoflowers (NFs) with different (001) and (110) crystal facets, respectively, and fabricate BiVO4/TiO2 heterostructure photoanodes. The BiVO4/TiO2 NFs showed 4.8 times higher photocurrent density than the BiVO4/TiO2 NRs. Transient decay time analysis and time-resolved photoluminescence reveal the enhancement is attributed to the reduced charge recombination, which is originated from the formation of type II band alignment between BiVO4 nanodots and TiO2 NFs. This work provides not only new insights into the interplay between crystal facets and band structures but also important steps for the design of highly efficient photoelectrodes.
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Dedications to achieve the highly efficient metal oxide semiconductor for the photoelectrochemical water splitting system have been persisted to utilize the TiO2 as the promising photoanode material. Herein, we report notable progress for nanostructured TiO2 photoanodes using facile sequential one-pot hydrothermal synthesis and annealing in hydrogen. A photocurrent density of 3.04 mA·cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode was achieved in TiO2 nanorod arrays annealed in hydrogen ambient, which is approximately 4.25 times higher than that of pristine TiO2 annealed in ambient air. 79.2% of incident photon-to-current efficiency at 380 nm wavelength demonstrates the prominence of the material at the near-UV spectral range region and 100 h chronoamperometric test exhibits the stability of the photoanode. Detailed studies regarding crystallinity, bandgap, and elemental analysis provide the importance of the optimized annealing condition for the TiO2-based photoanodes. Water contact angle measurement displays the effect of hydrogen annealing on the hydrophilicity of the material. This study clearly demonstrates the marked improvement using the optimized hydrogen annealing, providing the promising methodologies for eco-friendly mass production of water splitting photoelectrodes.