A novel black TiO<sub>2</sub>/ZnO nanocone arrays heterojunction on carbon cloth for highly efficient photoelectrochemical performance

doi:10.1007/s11706-019-0447-2

Front. Mater. Sci.

2019, Vol. 13

Issue (1) : 43-53 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-019-0447-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A novel black TiO₂/ZnO nanocone arrays heterojunction on carbon cloth for highly efficient photoelectrochemical performance

Pengcheng WU¹, Chang LIU¹, Yan LUO¹, Keliang WU¹, Jianning WU¹, Xuhong GUO¹, Juan HOU^1,²(

), Zhiyong LIU¹(

)

¹. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University/Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan/Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region/Engineering Research Center of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi 832003, China
². College of Science/Key Laboratory of Ecophysics and Department of Physics of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi 832003, China

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Abstract

ZnO nanocone arrays (NCAs) decorated with black TiO₂ nanoparticles (B-TiO₂ NPs) were uniformly anchored on the surface of carbon cloth (CC) directly by a simply electrochemical deposition method. Thus a novel B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC hierarchical heterostructure was formed. It displayed superior performance and achieved a higher photocurrent over 0.4 mA·cm⁻² before the onset of the dark current, attributed to the separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pair. Based on the B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC heterostructure, the catalyst was fabricated for promoting the separation of charge carriers. Moreover, the introduction of Ti³⁺ and oxygen vacancies on the surface of TiO₂ NPs expanded the absorption band edge and enhanced the electrical conductivity as well as the charge transportation on the catalytic surface. It indicates that the B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC composite is beneficial to the improvement of the photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity.

Keywords black TiO₂ nanoparticles ZnO nanocones arrays carbon cloth

Corresponding Author(s): Juan HOU,Zhiyong LIU

Online First Date: 21 February 2019 Issue Date: 07 March 2019

Cite this article:

Pengcheng WU,Chang LIU,Yan LUO, et al. A novel black TiO₂/ZnO nanocone arrays heterojunction on carbon cloth for highly efficient photoelectrochemical performance[J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2019, 13(1): 43-53.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-019-0447-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/Y2019/V13/I1/43

Fig.1 XRD patterns of CC, ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC.

Fig.2 FESEM images of (a)(b) CC, (c)(d) ZnO NCAs and (e)(f) TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC composites grown on CC at different magnifications.

Fig.3 (a) TEM and (b) HRTEM images of the TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs.

Fig.4 EDS spectrum of TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC.

Fig.5 XPS results of TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC: (a) survey spectra; (b) Zn 2p; (c) Ti 2p; (d) O 1s.

Fig.6 ESR spectra of TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC.

Fig.7 (a) UV-vis absorption spectra and (b) extracted bandgap profiles by the Kubelka–Munk function of TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs–CC.

Fig.8 PL spectra of ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC.

Fig.9 (a) LSV curves corresponding to different reduction times. (b) LSV curves of CC, ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC. (c) Photocurrent densities of ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC at 0 V (Ag/AgCl) under dark and illumination cycles. (d) EIS Nyquist plots of CC, ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC.

Fig.10 MS plots for ZnO NCAs?CC, TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC and B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC in the 0.5 mol·L⁻¹ Na₂SO₄ solution at 1 kHz.

Fig.11 Scheme 1 ?A scheme illustrating the mechanism for charge transport and transfer process of the B-TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs?CC system.

Fig. S1 TEM image of TiO₂ NPs/ZnO NCAs.

Fig. S2 Photocurrent densities of samples at 1.23 V vs. RHE under AM 1.5-irradiation.

Fig. S3 FESEM image of the NaBH₄ treatment for 90 min.

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