Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen generation and simultaneous degradation of organic pollutant via CdSe/TiO2 nanotube arrays

CdSe nanoparticles enhanced TiO2 nanotube arrays electrodes (CdSeITNTAs) were explored as the photoanode for driving the photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) generation of hydrogen and simultaneous degradation of organic pollutants in a PEC system. The evolution hydrogen and the simultaneous degradation of organic pollutants were performed in an electrolytic cell (three electrodes system) under visible-light (lambda > 400 nm). Such CdSe/TiO2 based PEC system exhibited both high efficiency of hydrogen generation and effective oxidation of methyl orange (MO). Such high PEC performance of CdSe/TNTAs was attributed to the high dispersity of CdSe nanoparticles on both outside and inside of the pore walls of TiO2 nanotube arrays, the strong combination and heterojunctions between CdSe and TiO2 through Cd O bonds via electrodeposition with ion-exchange method. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.