In situ formation of porous TiO2 nanotube array with MgTiO3 nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Heterostructured semiconductor photocatalysts are desirable for applications such as purification of pollutants and water splitting due to the enhanced charge separation. In this work, porous TiO2 nanotube arrays loaded with MgTiO3 nanoparticles (MgTiO3/P-TiO2NTAs) are prepared hydrothermally by anodization of TiO2 NTAs in the magnesium acetate (Mg(AC)(2)) solution. The photocatalytic (PC) activity of MgTiO3/P-TiO2 NTAs evaluated by monitoring the degradation of methyl blue (MB) reveals that the effectiveness is related to the thickness of MgTiO3 layer on TiO2. The best PC activity is observed from the MgTiO3/P-TiO2 NTAs hydrothermally treated at 200 degrees C for 1 h, the degradation rate is twice that of pristine anatase TiO2 NTAs and the transient photocurrent is three times higher. The heterostructured MgTiO3/P-TiO2 NTAs with good PC characteristics have large potential in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water decomposition and solar cell applications.