A facile strategy to fabricate Au/TiO2 nanotubes photoelectrode with excellent photoelectrocatalytic properties.

Highly ordered titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO 2 NTs) were prepared by a low-temperature hydrothermal process with Ti sheet as precursor in NaOH solutions. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were then deposited on the surface of TiO 2 NTs by a microwave-assisted chemical reduction route. The investigation reveal that the Au NPs are well dispersed on the surface of TiO 2 NTs in metallic state, and Au NPs can effectively promote the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Besides, Au NPs also can enhance the visible light absorption of TiO 2 NTs due to their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. The experimental results indicate that 0.5 Au/TiO 2 NTs film with an photocurrent of 19.0 μA/cm 2 exhibits the highest photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) activity, when under a low bias of 0.5 V, in the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Additionally, the mechanism for the enhanced PEC performance of Au/TiO 2 NTs is preliminarily discussed. The Au NPs decorated TiO 2 NTs displayed a more effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The enhanced visible light absorption was owning to the Au NPs localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. Finally, the mechanism for the enhanced PEC performance of Au/TiO 2 NTs was also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]