Hydrothermal Synthesis of Bi12TiO20 Nanostrucutures Using Anodized TiO2 Nanotubes and Its Application in Photovoltaics

A one-step synthesis method to prepare bismuth titanate nanostructures that belong to the sillenite family group of compounds (A(12)BO(20)) using TiO2 nanotubes (T-NT) is reported. Preformed TiO2 nanotubes prepared by anodization of titanium foils have been used in a hydrothermal procedure with a bismuth salt to prepare cube-like nanostructures. Surface characterization has been performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicate that these nanostructures are cube-like crystalline Bi12TiO20 (BTO) and demonstrate tight size and dimensional control. The photoelectrochemical properties of the BTO have been examined and compared with the properties of T-NT The BTO demonstrates a higher photocurrent density compared to TNT in the presence of both UV vis as well as visible light illumination. Depending on the magnitude of external bias, a stable increase of at least 40 and 10% in the value of photocurrent has been noted with the BTO compared to T-NT under UV Vis and visible light illumination, respectively