Hydrothermal synthesis of TiO ₂ nanostructure films and their photoelectrochemical properties

In this study, anatase TiO ₂ nanostructured films were successfully prepared via Ti foil-assisted hydrothermal synthesis method without any surfactants. With the increase of hydrothermal time from 3 to 12 h, the surface morphologies of the films changed from nanotubes to nanoflowers and the thickness of the films increased from 2.5 to 4.2 μm. The nanoflowers were seated on a layer of oriented nanotubes and consisted of nanosheets. Both nanotubes and nanosheets were multi-walled, comprising interconnected [TiO ₆ ] octahedra. Ti foil and acid-treated Ti foil both formed pieces of thin films on the surface with nanotubes and nanoflowers, respectively. Photoelectrochemistry tests showed that the photocurrent response of the nanotube film was nearly 13.8 μA/cm ² , which was approximately three times higher than that of nanoflowers film. This indicates that the nanotubes more successfully transferred electrons to the surface of the film as a result of nanotubes providing direct pathways for electrons from the point of injection to the Ti foil electrode. The ultraviolet (UV)-visible-near infrared (NIR) absorption spectra indicated that the nanotube film had a narrower band gap as compared to the nanoflower film. In other words, a relatively low hydrothermal treatment temperature or relatively short hydrothermal treatment time is better for preparing excellent photocurrent response films.