Visible light active Au:TiO2 nanocomposite photoanodes for water splitting: Sol–gel vs. sputtering
✍ Scribed by N. Naseri; P. Sangpour; A.Z. Moshfegh
- Book ID
- 103828419
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 1023 KB
- Volume
- 56
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0013-4686
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✦ Synopsis
In this study, pure TiO 2 and Au:TiO 2 nanocomposite thin films are both synthesized using sol-gel and RF reactive co-sputtering methods. Physical and photoelectrochemical properties of the thin films deposited by each method are compared. The optical density spectra and scanning electron microscopy images of the Au:TiO 2 films reveal formation of gold nanoparticles in the all nanocomposite films synthesized by two methods. Moreover, the optical bandgap energy of the thin films decreases with addition of Au nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the presence of gold in metallic state and the formation of TiO 2 is stoichiometric. The photoelectrochemical properties of the TiO 2 and Au:TiO 2 thin films are characterized by using a compartment cell containing KOH solution as electrolyte. It is found that in the pure systems, TiO 2 sputtered films shows a higher photocurrent under visible light illumination while a reverse result is obtained for the Au:TiO 2 systems. In addition, photoirradiation on electrode/electrolyte (EE) and substrate/electrode (SE) interfaces for the sputtered samples reveals the EE illumination enhances the photoresponse of the layers as compared to SE case.