TiO2@CdS core-shell nanorods films:: Fabrication and dramatically enhanced photoelectrochemical properties

In this paper, we prepared TiO2@CdS core-shell nanorods films electrodes using a simple and low-cost chemical bath deposition method. The core-shell nanorods films electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-vis spectrometry techniques. After applying these TiO2@CdS core-shell nanorods electrodes in photovoltaic cells, we found that the photocurrent was dramatically enhanced, comparing with those of bare TiO2 nanorods and US films electrodes. Moreover, TiO2@CdS core-shell nanorods film electrode showed better cell performance than US nanoparticles deposited TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) film electrode. A photocurrent of 1.31 mA/cm(2), a fill factor of 0.43, an open circuit photovoltage of 0.44 V, and a conversion efficiency of 0.8% were obtained under an illumination of 32 mW/cm(2), when the US nanoparticles deposited on TiO2 nanorods film for about 20 min. The maximum quantum efficiency of 5.0% was obtained at an incident wavelength of 500 rim. We believe that TiO2@CdS core-shell heterostructured nanorods are excellent candidates for studying some fundamental aspects on charge separation and transfer in the fields of photovoltaic cells and photocatalysis. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.