Preparation and Optical Properties of TiO2 Film with a Nest-Like Structure by Three Times of Circulating Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

An anatase TiO2 photoanode with a novel three-dimensional nest-like structure was prepared directly on a transparent conductive glass substrate through hydrothermal cycles by three times. First, an unidirectional banded structure film was prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. And then, with the time of hydrothermal cycle increased, part of nanobelts were ruptured into a lot of small polyhedrons, but they still maintained a trend of the previous connection, and some fine nanobelts were interweaved in small polyhedrons. Finally, we successfully prepared a film with a novel 3D nest-like structure, and it had all the characteristics of the hierarchitectures. It had better photoelectric properties than the film with fewer times of hydrothermal cycle. Its photoelectric conversion efficiency reached 3.81%, which is due to a large dye adsorption amount, rapid electronic transmission, and superior light scattering and more electrons transmission paths.