Reaction duration impact on morphological, optical, structural and photoelectrochemical properties of hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 nanorods

Abstract

Abstract This study involved the hydrothermal synthesis of vertically oriented TiO2 nanorods on FTO substrate. We examined the impact of reaction duration on morphological, optical, structural and photoelectrochemical properties. The formation of TiO2 nanorods was confirmed by the FESEM and AFM results. The formation of TiO2 tetragonal crystal structure with the rutile phase was shown by XRD spectra. The average absorbance of the samples falls as the reaction duration increases, according to UV–vis spectroscopy analysis. According to PEC experiments, each sample demonstrated a strong photocurrent density and good light response in various lighting situations. The highest possible photocurrent density of 91.8 μA/cm2 at 1.2 V vs Ag/AgCl was recorded from TiO2 film with the reaction duration of 5 h (T@5 h). The quick separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers was demonstrated, and this result was confirmed by EIS data.