Titania nanotube (TNT)-array thin films well decorated by copper nanoparticles with average size of 3 nm were prepared by spray coating of a solution containing size-controlled Cu⁰ nanoparticles. The consecutive calcination at 300 °C and 450 °C leads to the oxidation of these Cu NPs to CuO, with small amounts of Cu₂O at the lower calcination temperature, but maintaining the high dispersion. Analogous materials prepared by copper electrodeposition lead to significantly larger Cu NPs. The TNT-array thin film shows significantly enhanced photocurrent (up to about 90%) with respect to a comparable thin film prepared by spin coating using a commercial TiO₂ P25 sample. The behavior is similar by applying different filters to cut part of solar light simulator radiation. Particularly, using an UV B/C blocking filter, which permits to pass light in the 350–550 nm range, an about two-fold intensification in the current-to-electrical energy conversion (normalized to the same total irradiance) is obtained. The presence of CuO nanoparticles decreases the photocurrent density with respect to the support alone (TNT-array 1h), but enhances the H₂ photogeneration rate in the gas-phase photoreactor experiments. The results indicate that in the tested experimental conditions, the main role of CuO nanoparticles is to act as co-catalyst to improve the H₂ photogeneration rate rather than to promote charge separation or other effects, which promote the photocurrent density.

通过喷涂包含尺寸可控的Cu ⁰纳米颗粒的溶液，制备了平均粒径为3 nm的铜纳米颗粒很好装饰的二氧化钛纳米管（TNT）阵列薄膜。在300°C和450°C下连续煅烧会导致这些Cu NPs氧化为CuO，在较低的煅烧温度下会有少量的Cu ₂ O，但仍保持较高的分散度。通过铜电沉积制备的类似材料会导致更大的Cu NP。与通过使用市售TiO ₂旋涂制备的可比较薄膜相比，TNT阵列薄膜显示出显着增强的光电流（高达约90％）。P25样品。通过应用不同的滤镜来削减部分太阳光模拟器辐射，其行为是相似的。特别是，使用UV B / C阻挡滤光片，该滤光片可使350-550 nm范围内的光通过，在电流到电能的转换中得到大约两倍的强度增强（归一化为相同的总辐照度）。相对于单独的载体（TNT阵列1h），CuO纳米粒子的存在降低了光电流密度，但在气相光反应器实验中却提高了H _2的光生速率。结果表明，在测试的实验条件下，CuO纳米颗粒的主要作用是充当助催化剂以改善H ₂ 光生速率而不是促进电荷分离或其他作用，从而促进光电流密度。