Carbon Quantum Dots Decorated C3N4/TiO2 Heterostructure Nanorod Arrays for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance.

TiO₂ is a commonly employed material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting due to its nontoxicity, abundance and great stability. However, TiO₂ suffers from low PEC efficiency because of the weak absorption of visible light. Here, carbon quantum dots decorated C₃N₄/TiO₂ heterostructure nanorod arrays (CQDs/C₃N₄/TiO₂NAs) were designed and fabricated to solve this shortcoming. The CQDs/C₃N₄/TiO₂NAs exhibit an increased solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency which is 5.8 times that of TiO₂ NAs and excellent stability in strong alkaline electrolyte. The enhanced performance of the CQDs/C₃N₄/TiO₂ NAs is attributed to the improved light absorption and charge separation and transfer induced by the C₃N₄ and CQDs. This work provides a promising approach for the design of low cost and environmentally friendly photoanodes for efficient and stable PEC applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]