A facile strategy to fabricate Au/TiO2 nanotubes photoelectrode with excellent photoelectrocatalytic properties

Abstract

Highly ordered titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) were prepared by a low-temperature hydrothermal process with Ti sheet as precursor in NaOH solutions. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were then deposited on the surface of TiO2 NTs by a microwave-assisted chemical reduction route. The investigation reveal that the Au NPs are well dispersed on the surface of TiO2 NTs in metallic state, and Au NPs can effectively promote the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Besides, Au NPs also can enhance the visible light absorption of TiO2 NTs due to their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. The experimental results indicate that 0.5 Au/TiO2 NTs film with an photocurrent of 19.0μA/cm2 exhibits the highest photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) activity, when under a low bias of 0.5V, in the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Additionally, the mechanism for the enhanced PEC performance of Au/TiO2 NTs is preliminarily discussed. The Au NPs decorated TiO2 NTs displayed a more effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The enhanced visible light absorption was owning to the Au NPs localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. Finally, the mechanism for the enhanced PEC performance of Au/TiO2 NTs was also proposed.