Fabrication of Au nanoparticle-decorated TiO2 nanotube arrays for stable photoelectrochemical water splitting by two-step anodization

Abstract To improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency for hydrogen production, we report the fabrication of Au NP-decorated TiO 2 nanotube (TNT) arrays by a simple and cost-effective method involving two-step anodization and Au thin film agglomeration. TNT arrays prepared by the two-step anodization showed better photocurrent stability and efficiency than those prepared by one-step anodization. In addition, Au decoration on the TNT array induced a remarkable increase of 67.2% in the photocurrent to 1.02 mA/cm 2 .