Abstract
Well-ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) decorated with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) were fabricated by anodic oxidization and calcination process. First, TNTAs were prepared via the anodic oxidation of Ti foil in glycerol solution containing fluorinion and 20% deionized water. Subsequently, g-C3N4 film was hydrothermally grown on TNTAs via the hydrogen-bonded cyanuric acid melamine supramolecular complex. The results showed that g-C3N4 was successfully decorated on the TNTAs and the g-C3N4/TNTAs served as an efficient and stable photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The facile deposition method enables the fabrication of efficient and low-cost photoanodes for renewable energy applications.
Highlights
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising process in which solar energy is transformed into chemical energy and stored in the form of hydrogen [1,2,3]
The diffraction peaks at * 25° and * 37.8° of the TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) and the g-C3N4/TNTAs heterojunction were assigned to the TiO2 (101) and (004) peaks, respectively
The peak at * 27.3° was attributed to the interlayer stacking of aromatic systems (002) of g-C3N4 (JCPDS card No 87-1526) [32]
Summary
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising process in which solar energy is transformed into chemical energy and stored in the form of hydrogen [1,2,3]. Despite the considerable advantages in the morphology of the one-dimensional nanostructure, the photocatalytic activity of pristine TiO2 is greatly limited by its wide band gap of * 3.2 eV, which leads to the extremely low absorption in the visible region of solar spectrum. Graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C3N4), as a significant metal-free polymeric semiconductor with inherent chemical and thermal stability, and a moderate band gap of 2.7 eV, has generated a lot of interest [25,26,27]. Compared to transition metal oxides and sulfide semiconductor photocatalysts, g-C3N4 is composed of strong covalent bonds between carbon and nitride atoms and demonstrates high stability in acidic and alkaline electrolytes, which is favorable for PEC applications [25, 28]. The results of this work proved that the heterojunctions were highly efficient as photoanodes and demonstrated stable performances for PEC water splitting
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