Effect of Ti3+ on enhancing photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 nanorods/nanosheets photoelectrode

In the study, visible-light active Ti3+ doped TiO2 nanorods/nanosheets (Ti3+/TiO2 NRs/NSs) photoelectrode was successfully fabricated by hydrothermal reaction, followed by sodium borohydride reduction treatment. Moreover, physicochemical properties of the resulting samples were studied by series of techniques. Also, photocatalytic (PC) activity of Ti3+/TiO2 NRs/NSs photoelectrode was measured by degradation of methylene blue (MB). Results suggested that Ti3+ and oxygen vacancies (Ov) were simultaneously formed and induce the formation of impurity energy level in the TiO2 NRs/NSs band gap by solution reduction treatment, which exerted a huge influence on the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical properties of Ti3+7/TiO2 NRs/NSs photoelectrode in the mean time. Furthermore, Ti3+/TiO2 NRs/NSs photoelectrode exhibited higher PC activity (89.61%) than that of pristine TiO2 NRs/NSs (73.56%) within 150 min visible light illumination owing to the enhancement of visible light harvesting and separation efficiency of photoproduced charges. Moreover, the possible enhanced PC mechanism of Ti3+/TiO2 NRs/NSs was proposed and confirmed. Furthermore, Ti3+/TiO2 NRs/NSs photo electrode displayed good stability and reusability.