Fabrication and characterization of transparent Cr-decorated TiO2 nanoporous electrode for enhanced photo-electrocatalytic performance

摘要

A Cr-decorated TiO2 nanoporous transparent electrode was fabricated by DC sputtering, anodization, and thermal evaporation methods, respectively. Ti films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass and anodized to obtain a transparent TiO2 nanoporous film (TN). The fabricated electrodes were characterized using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Photoelectrochemical activity of prepared films was investigated by photo-electrocatalytic degradation of RhB dye under constant voltage and UVA light irradiation. The Cr-decorated TiO2 nanoporous film (CTN) served as an electrode and exhibited better photo-electrocatalytic performance than a TN electrode. Results show that Cr decoration increased photoelectrochemical activity significantly due to more efficient charge separation and lower recombination rate.