Incorporation of WO3 species into TiO2 nanotubes via wet impregnation and their water-splitting performance

Abstract Self-organized and highly ordered titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanotubes synthesized through anodization and wet impregnation were applied to incorporate tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ) species uniformly throughout the walls of nanotubes. In this study, ammonium paratungstate (APT) was used as a precursor. The effect of APT molarity on the formation of WO 3 –TiO 2 nanotubes was investigated using field emission microscopy, energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The WO 3 –TiO 2 nanotubes dipped in 0.3 mM APT aqueous solution exhibited better photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance under visible illumination. A maximum photocurrent of 2.1 mA/cm 2 with a photoconversion efficiency of 5.1% was obtained, which is approximately twice higher than that of pure TiO 2 nanotubes. The findings were mainly attributed to higher charge carrier separation, which minimized the recombination losses and enhanced the transportation of photo-induced electrons in this binary hybrid photoelectrode.

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