Optimizing the performance of Au y /Ni x /TiO 2 NTs photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Autor: Mohamed SK; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Suez University 43518 Suez Egypt Shaimaa.Mohamed@Sci.suezuni.edu.eg h.hassan@suezuniv.edu.eg., Bashat AMA; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Suez University 43518 Suez Egypt Shaimaa.Mohamed@Sci.suezuni.edu.eg h.hassan@suezuniv.edu.eg., Hassan HMA; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Suez University 43518 Suez Egypt Shaimaa.Mohamed@Sci.suezuni.edu.eg h.hassan@suezuniv.edu.eg., Ismail N; Physical Chemistry Department, Centre of Excellence for Advanced Sciences, Renewable Energy Group, National Research Centre Dokki 12311 Giza Egypt., El Rouby WMA; Materials Science and Nanotechnology Department, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Advanced Science (PSAS), Beni-Suef University 62511 Beni-Suef Egypt waleedmohamedali@psas.bsu.edu.eg.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: RSC advances [RSC Adv] 2023 May 09; Vol. 13 (20), pp. 14018-14032. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 09 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1039/d3ra02011h
Abstrakt: Water splitting using photoelectrochemical (PEC) techniques is thought to be a potential method for creating green hydrogen as a sustainable energy source. How to create extremely effective electrode materials is a pressing concern in this area. In this work, a series of Ni x /TiO 2 anodized nanotubes (NTs) and Au y /Ni x /TiO 2 NTs photoanodes were prepared by electrodeposition via cyclic voltammetry and UV-photoreduction, respectively. The photoanodes were characterized by several structural, morphological, and optical techniques and their performance in PEC water-splitting for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under simulated solar light was investigated. The obtained results revealed the nanotubular structure of TiO 2 NTs was preserved after deposition of NiO and Au nanoparticles while the band gap energy was reduced allowing for effective utilization of solar light with lower charge recombination rate. The PEC performance was monitored and it was found that the photocurrent densities of Ni 20 /TiO 2 NTs and Au 30 /Ni 20 /TiO 2 NTs were 1.75-fold and 3.25-fold that of pristine TiO 2 NTs, respectively. It was confirmed that the performance of the photoanodes depends on the number of electrodeposition cycles and duration of photoreduction of gold salt solution. The observed enhanced OER activity of Au 30 /Ni 20 /TiO 2 NTs could be attributed to the synergism between the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of nanometric gold which increased solar light harvesting and the p-n heterojunction formed at the NiO/TiO 2 interface which led to better charge separation and transportation suggesting its potential application as an efficient and stable photoanode in PEC water splitting for H 2 production.
Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare.
(This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: