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Highly ordered multi-leg TiO2 nanotubes (MLTNTs) functionalized with platinized cyanographene are proposed as a hybrid photoelectrode for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting. The platinized cyanographene and cyanographene/MLTNTs composite yielded photocurrent densities 1.66 and 1.25 times higher than those of the pristine MLTNTs nanotubes, respectively. Open circuit VOC decay (VOCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) analyses were performed to study the recombination rate, charge transfer characteristics, and transfer time of photogenerated electrons, respectively. According to the VOCD and IMPS results, the addition of (platinized) cynographene decreased the recombination rate and the transfer time of photogenerated electrons by one order of magnitude. Furthermore, EIS results showed that the (platinized) cyanographene MLTNTs composite has the lowest charge transfer resistance and therefore the highest photoelectrochemical performance.

In this work, nanodiamond (ND) particles were used as a scattering layer in a photoanode of a dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC). The thickness of the ND layer was controlled by spin-coating speed. Current–voltage (I–V) test results showed that the thickness of the ND scattering layer is an important factor affecting cell efficiency. The best cell efficiency achieved was 6.16% with a spin-coating speed of 2000 rpm, which was 15% higher than the DSSC without the scattering layer.

ZnO nano layer was prepared by sol–gel method using zinc acetate dihydrate, methanol and diethanolamine as precursor, solvent and stabilizer, respectively. According to the thermal analysis results, the heat treatment process after producing ZnO nano layer can be divided into three stages. The structure of the nano layer showed a significant dependency on heat treatment temperature in the low temperature heat treatment stage, which is performed to evaporate the organic components. The high temperature heat treatment stage has no significant effect on the structure of the films. The temperature employed in the first stage of heat treatment process during the initial 10 min of heat treatment was found to be important in determining the structure of the films. The results determined that the elimination condition of the organic components is very important for achieving high crystallinity.