Carbon quantum dots modified anatase/rutile TiO2 photoanode with dramatically enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

摘要： Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, but the severe bulk recombination of photongenerated carriers, the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics and the poor visible light response are the main bottleneck problems. Here, the carbon quantum dots (CQDs) modified anatase/rutile TiO2 photoanode (CQDs/A/R-TiO2) was designed by growth of anatase TiO2 nanothorns on the rutile TiO2 nanorods and further surface modification of CQDs. The results revealed that A/R-TiO2 heterojunction significantly suppressed the bulk recombination of photogenerated carriers. With further incorporation of CQDs into A/R-TiO2, dramatical improvement of OER kinetics and light harvesting were obtained. The bulk charge separation efficiency (ηbulk) and the surface charge injection efficiency (ηsurface) of CQDs/A/R-TiO2 are 1.69 and 5.74 times higher than that of the pristine TiO2 at 0.6 V vs. RHE, respectively. The photocurrent of CQDs/A/R-TiO2 is increased by 11.72 times and the onset potential of CQDs/A/R-TiO2 is negatively shifted by 240 mV.