Enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of hierarchical black TiO2-x nanolaces for Cr (VI) photocatalytic reduction
By Chahrour, Khaled M.; Yam, F. K.; Eid, A. M.; Nazeer, Ahmed Abdel
Published in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
2020
Abstract
In this work, hierarchical TiO2 nanolace (NL-TiO2) films have been synthesized by a two-step anodization technique. This was followed by a reduction in a hydrogen atmosphere to prepare the reduced black version of such hierarchical nanolaces (NL-TiO2-x). The FESEM images confirmed highly-ordered nanolace arrays structure for all the synthesized films. The Ti3+ ions/oxygen vacancies were confirmed using XPS spectra. The photoelectrochemical properties of NL-TiO2-x showed superior character in comparison with NL-TiO2 by the virtue of the promoted electron-hole separation efficiency, which induced by the Ti3+ ions/oxygen vacancies in NL-TiO2-x. The data showed that the NL-TiO2-x film annealed at 650