Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society (한국세라믹학회지)

The Korean Ceramic Society (한국세라믹학회)
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Water-splitting Performance of TiO2 Nanotube Arrays Annealed in NH3 Ambient

  • Kim, Se-Im (Department of Information and Nano-Materials Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology) ;
  • Kim, Sung-Jin (Department of Information and Nano-Materials Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology) ;
  • Yang, Bee-Lyong (Department of Information and Nano-Materials Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology)
  • Received : 2011.02.21
  • Accepted : 2011.03.09
  • Published : 2011.03.31
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Abstract

Increase of surface area and decrease of band gap in $TiO_2$ semiconductors are significant to improve the efficiency of water splitting by photoelectrolysis. In this study $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays with ~7 um length and ~100 nm diameter were fabricated by an anodizing technique of titanium foils using DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide)-based electrolytes. Then to control the band gap of the $TiO_2$ arrays, they were annealed at $550^{\circ}C$ for up to 180 min in $NH_3$ gas ambient. The samples annealed in $NH_3$ gas for 30 min and 60 min showed superior photo-conversion efficiency for water splitting under white and visible light. A $TiO_2$ nanotube annealed in $NH_3$ gas ambient for a period longer than 120 min showed 1 order higher leakage current. It is believed that the decrease of band gap and increase of conductivity in $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays due to $NH_3$ gas treatments result in the superior water-splitting performance.

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References

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