Nanoetching TiO2 nanorod photoanodes to induce high-energy facet exposure for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

Canjun Liu; Jian Zuo; Xin Su; Huili Guo; Yong Pei; Jie Zhang; Shu Chen

doi:10.1039/D2NR04031J

Nanoetching TiO₂ nanorod photoanodes to induce high-energy facet exposure for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance†

Canjun Liu,

^ab Jian Zuo,^a Xin Su,^a Huili Guo,^a Yong Pei,

*^b Jie Zhang

^a and Shu Chen*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Function Molecule of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, Hunan, China
E-mail: chenshu@hnust.edu.cn
Tel: +86 731 5829 0045

^b School of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
E-mail: ypei2@xtu.edu.cn
Fax: +86731 5829 0045

Abstract

Crystal facet engineering is considered as an effective way to improve photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. Here, we have developed a nanoetching technology (TiO₂ → TiO₂/Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ → TiO₂/BiVO₄ → etching-TiO₂) to treat rutile TiO₂ nanorod films. Interestingly, the technology can induce the exposure of a large number of high energy (101) faces, and the etching-TiO₂ film (E-TiO₂) showed a significantly enhanced PEC performance. A dynamic study indicates that charge separation and transfer have been obviously improved by such a nanoetching technology. In particular, the charge transfer efficiency (η_trans) of E-TiO₂ reaches 93.4% at 1.23 V vs. RHE without any loaded cocatalyst. The mechanism of PEC performance enhanced by the strategy is experimentally and theoretically unraveled. The improvement of PEC performance is mainly attributed to the shorter distance between H and the neighboring O-b for the HO* intermediates of the rutile (101) facet, which can reduce the energy barrier for the OER. Besides, the driving force for spatial charge separation between the (110) and (101) facets can promote charge separation. This work offers a new and versatile nanotechnology to induce the exposure of the high energy crystal facets and improve the PEC performance.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NR04031J
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 22 Jul 2022
Accepted: 17 Sep 2022
First published: 30 Sep 2022

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Nanoscale, 2022,14, 15918-15927

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Nanoetching TiO₂ nanorod photoanodes to induce high-energy facet exposure for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

C. Liu, J. Zuo, X. Su, H. Guo, Y. Pei, J. Zhang and S. Chen, Nanoscale, 2022, 14, 15918 DOI: 10.1039/D2NR04031J

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Nanoetching TiO₂ nanorod photoanodes to induce high-energy facet exposure for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance†

Abstract

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Nanoetching TiO₂ nanorod photoanodes to induce high-energy facet exposure for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

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