Sol-gel Modified TiO2 Powder Composite Films for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation

Sol-gel modified TiO2 powder composite films were prepared as photoeletrode for the hydrogen generation in a two-compartment photoelectrochemical cell. Commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 powders have been successfully incorporated into TiO2 sol prepared by sol-gel method using tetrabutyl orthotitanate as precursor material to form thick TiO2 films via coating on the indium-tin oxide (ITO) conductive glass. With assistance of polyethylene glycol (PEG), the macroporous structure TiO2 film was obtained after calcination. The film samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The XRD result indicated that TiO2 films were composed of the anatase-rutile mischcrystal phase. Furthermore, the coating layer had a great effect on the photoelectrochemical properties and photocatalytic activity. The experimental results showed that TiO2-P25/ITO film with 5 coating layers demonstrated a maximum hydrogen production rate, which implied that TiO2-P25/ITO film prepared by this convenient and economic method is a promising photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen production.