Efficient Suppression of Electron-Hole Recombination in Oxygen-Deficient Hydrogen-Treated TiO₂ Nanowires for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

ABSTRACT: There is an increasing level of interest in the use of black TiO₂ prepared by thermal hydrogen treatments (H:TiO₂) due to the potential to enhance both the photocatalytic and the light-harvesting properties of TiO₂. Here, we examine oxygen-deficient H:TiO₂ nanotube arrays that have previously achieved very high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies due to incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) values of >90% for photoelectrochemical water splitting at only 0.4 V vs RHE under UV illumination. Our transient absorption (TA) mechanistic study provides strong evidence that the improved electrical properties of oxygen-deficient TiO₂ enables remarkably efficient spatial separation of electron-hole pairs on the submicrosecond time scale a

SUBMITTER: Pesci FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3871891 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature