Hierarchical fabrication of heterojunctioned SrTiO3/TiO2 nanotubes on 3D microporous Ti substrate with enhanced photocatalytic activity and adhesive strength

Recently, construction of three-dimensional (3D) architecture and design of heterostructure have been proved to be two important approaches for improving photocatalytic (PC) properties of TiO2-based catalysts. In this work, a 3D microporous surface on Ti substrate (MPT) was prepared by simple acid etching. Then, heterojunctioned SrTiO3/TiO2 nanotubes with dominant {001} facets of anatase TiO2 were successfully fabricated on MPT by combining anodization with hydrothermal treatment. The 3D microporous-patterned SrTiO3/TiO2 nanotubes heterojunction shows significantly enhanced photo current density and similar to 200% improved PC effect in degradation of Rhodamine B owing to its higher specific surface area, stronger light-harvesting ability and positive heterojunction effect in comparison with TiO2 nanotubes formed on flat Ti substrate. Moreover, the 3D microporous structure on Ti substrate improved the adhesive strength between the nanotubes layer and Ti substrate, which can be ascribed to the effective release of internal stress. Therefore, this present strategy is expected to expand the application of TiO2-based catalysts in many fields which require excellent PC properties and mechanical stability. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.