Water-photolysis properties of micron-length highly-ordered titania nanotube-arrays

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2005 Jul;5(7):1158-65. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2005.195.

Abstract

We report the water photoelectrolysis and photoelectrochemical properties of the titania nanotube arrays as a function of nanotube crystallinity, length (up to 6.4 microm), and pore size. Most noteworthy of our results, under 320-400 nm illumination (98 mW/cm2) the titania nanotube-array photoanodes (area 1 cm2), pore size 110 nm, wall thickness 20 nm, and 6 microm length, generate hydrogen by water photoelectrolysis at a rate of 7.6 mL/hr, with a photoconversion efficiency of 12.25%. The energy-time normalized hydrogen evolution rate is 80 mL/hrW, the largest reported hydrogen photoelectrolysis generation rate for any material system by a factor of four. The highly-ordered nanotubular architecture appears to allow for superior charge separation and charge transport, with a calculated quantum efficiency of over 80% for incident photons with energies larger than the titania bandgap.

MeSH terms

  • Electrochemistry / methods
  • Hydrogen
  • Light
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Nanotubes / chemistry*
  • Nanotubes / ultrastructure
  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Photochemistry / methods
  • Photolysis
  • Potentiometry
  • Time Factors
  • Titanium / chemistry*
  • Water
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Nanotubes, Carbon
  • Water
  • titanium dioxide
  • Hydrogen
  • Titanium