Photo-Current Enhancement in Carbon Quantum Dots Functionalized Titania Nanotube Arrays

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2016 Jun;16(6):5999-6004. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2016.11040.

Abstract

Highly aligned, vertically oriented, TiO2 nanotube arrays fabricated by electrochemical anodization were functionalised by carbon quantum dots (CQD) synthesized by an electrochemical reduction technique. Here, we report the photo-electrochemical properties of such TiO2 nanotubes array-CQD composite material and it has been found that the properties are significantly enhanced compared to that in pristine (bare) nanotubes. The TiO2 nanotubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, whereas the CQD samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, optical absorption spectroscopy. CQDs synthesized under two different conditions showed a distinct size difference and corresponding absorption spectra revealed concominant shift in the absorption edges. Furthermore, the photo-electrochemical measurements were carried out with the help of photo-current, incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE), Mott-Schottky plots and the impedance analysis. The photo-current data revealed 30% improvement in TiO2-CQD samples compared to bare TiO2 nanotubes samples. A higher photo-conversion efficiency was observed along with the shifting of the peak value towards visible wavelengths. The Mott-Schottky plots revealed shift in the flat-band potential in the CQD-TiO2 samples and corresponding lowering of the charge transfer resistance was observed through the impedance spectroscopy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't