Facile Preparation of Cu(OH)₂@TiO₂ Nanowire Arrays for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

Cu (OH) 2 @TiO 2 nanowire arrays (NWAs) on the Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates had been fabricated via an simple and facile deposition method. The as-prepared Cu (OH) 2 @TiO 2 NWAs were subsequently characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), UVVis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) and photoelectrochemical measurements. This results suggested that the Cu (OH) 2 @TiO 2 NWAs efficiently impeded the recombination between photoelectrons and holes. Therefore, this approach would afford a simple, effective, facile and low-cost method for preparation photoanode, which would enhance the hydrogen generating capability of TiO 2 from water splitting.