Photoassisted electrolysis of water for hydrogen generation with TiO 2 aggregate film

Abstract

In this paper, the nanocrystallite aggregates of TiO2 were synthesized and characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The aggregates are of submicron size, formed by nano-sized crystallites and able to offer both a large specific surface area and desirable size comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Therefore, the TiO2 aggregates were also studied as photoelectrode in photoelectrochemical cell for hydrogen generation. The results show that the hydrogen generation rates are 0.47 ml/h*cm2 and 0.27 ml/h*cm2 during the first test with and without illumination, respectively. The current density also presented continually increasing during the light-on period. This was attributed to the photogenerated current, which benefited from the TiO2 aggregates and may significantly enhance the electrolysis rate of water.