Copper and titanium remain relatively plentiful in earth crust.Therefore,using them in solar energy conversion technologies are of significant interest.In this work,cuprous oxide(Cu2O)-modified short TiO2 nanotube a...Copper and titanium remain relatively plentiful in earth crust.Therefore,using them in solar energy conversion technologies are of significant interest.In this work,cuprous oxide(Cu2O)-modified short TiO2 nanotube array electrode was prepared based on the following two design ideas:first,the short titania nanotubes obtained from sonoelectrochemical anodization possess excellent charge separation and transportation properties as well as desirable mechanical stability;second,the sonoelectrochemical deposition technique favours the improvement in the combination between Cu2O and TiO2 nanotubes,and favours the dispersion of Cu2O particles.UV-Vis absorption and photo-electronchemical measurements proved that the Cu2O coating extended the visible spectrum absorption and the solar spectrum-induced photocurrent response.Under AM1.5 irradiation,the photocurrent density of the composite electrode(i.e.sonoelectrochemical deposition for 5 min) was more than 4.75 times as high as the pure nanotube electrode.Comparing the photoactivity of the Cu2O/TiO2 electrode obtained using sonoelectrochemical deposition with others that synthesized using plain electrochemical deposition,the photocurrent density of the former electrode was 2.2 times higher than that of the latter when biased at 1.0 V(vs.Ag/AgCl).The reproducible photocurrent response under intermittent illumination demonstrated the excellent stability of the composite electrode.Such kind of composite electrode material will have many potential applications in solar cell and other fields.展开更多
TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays were fabricated by anodic oxidation of titanium foil in a fluoride- based solution, on which Cu20 particles were loaded via galvanostatic pulse electrodeposition in cupric acetate solution...TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays were fabricated by anodic oxidation of titanium foil in a fluoride- based solution, on which Cu20 particles were loaded via galvanostatic pulse electrodeposition in cupric acetate solutions in the absence of any other additives. The structure and optical properties of Cu2O-loaded TiO2 nanotube arrays (Cu2O-TNTs) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis absorption, and the photoelectrochemical performance was measured using an electrochemical work station with a three-electrode configuration. The results show that the Cu2O particles distribute uniformly on the highly ordered anatase TiO2 nanotube arrays. The morphologies of Cu2O crystals change from branched, truncated octahedrons to dispersive single octahedrons with increasing deposition current densities. The Cu2O- TNTs exhibited remarkable visible light responses with obvious visible light absorption and greatly enhanced visible light photoelectrochemical performance. The I-V characteristics under visible light irradiation show a distinct plateau in the region between approximately -0.3 and 0 V, resulting in higher open-circuit voltages and larger short-circuit currents with increased Cu2O deposition.展开更多
基金the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant No.2009CB220004)the Shanghai Basic Research Key Project (08JC1411300,0952nm01800)+1 种基金the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No.2009 AA063003)Shanghai Tongji Gao Tingyao Environmental Science and Technology Development Foundation for financial support
摘要Copper and titanium remain relatively plentiful in earth crust.Therefore,using them in solar energy conversion technologies are of significant interest.In this work,cuprous oxide(Cu2O)-modified short TiO2 nanotube array electrode was prepared based on the following two design ideas:first,the short titania nanotubes obtained from sonoelectrochemical anodization possess excellent charge separation and transportation properties as well as desirable mechanical stability;second,the sonoelectrochemical deposition technique favours the improvement in the combination between Cu2O and TiO2 nanotubes,and favours the dispersion of Cu2O particles.UV-Vis absorption and photo-electronchemical measurements proved that the Cu2O coating extended the visible spectrum absorption and the solar spectrum-induced photocurrent response.Under AM1.5 irradiation,the photocurrent density of the composite electrode(i.e.sonoelectrochemical deposition for 5 min) was more than 4.75 times as high as the pure nanotube electrode.Comparing the photoactivity of the Cu2O/TiO2 electrode obtained using sonoelectrochemical deposition with others that synthesized using plain electrochemical deposition,the photocurrent density of the former electrode was 2.2 times higher than that of the latter when biased at 1.0 V(vs.Ag/AgCl).The reproducible photocurrent response under intermittent illumination demonstrated the excellent stability of the composite electrode.Such kind of composite electrode material will have many potential applications in solar cell and other fields.
基金Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51175363)the Youth Staff Fund of Taiyuan University of Technology(Nos.K201016,K201013)+1 种基金the Specialized Fund for Innovative of College Students of Taiyuan City(No.09122018)the Program for Changjiang Scholar and Innovative Research Team in University(No.IRT0972)
摘要TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays were fabricated by anodic oxidation of titanium foil in a fluoride- based solution, on which Cu20 particles were loaded via galvanostatic pulse electrodeposition in cupric acetate solutions in the absence of any other additives. The structure and optical properties of Cu2O-loaded TiO2 nanotube arrays (Cu2O-TNTs) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis absorption, and the photoelectrochemical performance was measured using an electrochemical work station with a three-electrode configuration. The results show that the Cu2O particles distribute uniformly on the highly ordered anatase TiO2 nanotube arrays. The morphologies of Cu2O crystals change from branched, truncated octahedrons to dispersive single octahedrons with increasing deposition current densities. The Cu2O- TNTs exhibited remarkable visible light responses with obvious visible light absorption and greatly enhanced visible light photoelectrochemical performance. The I-V characteristics under visible light irradiation show a distinct plateau in the region between approximately -0.3 and 0 V, resulting in higher open-circuit voltages and larger short-circuit currents with increased Cu2O deposition.