Simple Fabrication of SnO Quantum-dot-modified TiO Nanorod Arrays with High Photoelectrocatalytic Activity for Overall Water Splitting.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been demonstrated as a promising way to acquire clean hydrogen energy. However, the efficiency has been limited by the high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Herein, we provided a simple approach to construct a novel SnO quantum dots (QDs) modified TiO nanorod arrays (NAs) by the calcination of SnCl -adsorbed TiO NAs. The photocurrent density of SnO QDs/TiO NAs exhibits about 5 times higher than that of parent TiO NAs at a bias of 0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl. SnO QDs/TiO NAs also show a high photoelectrocatalytic activity for overall water splitting with an actual yield of H and O to be 27.85 and 11.87 μmol cm  h , respectively. The excellent performance of photoanode for PEC water splitting could be attributed to its Z-scheme heterostructure for good separation efficiency and transport rate of photogenerated charge carries.