Synthesis and photobehavior of Titania thin-films prepared by anodic oxidation

Titania thin films prepd. by anodic oxidn. show excellent properties in the prodn. of hydrogen by water photoelectrolysis and orgs. photoreforming both in liq. and gas phase, as well as photoanode in advanced photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) solar cells, due to their tunable nanostructures characterized from the presence of vertical-aligned arrays of 1D-type nanotubes. We report here the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured thin films of titania prepd. by anodic oxidn. in aq. and org. solvents, the relationship between nanostructure and photocurrent, and between these aspects and their performances in the photoprodn. of H2. We also obsd. a relationship between nanostructure and photo-generated current by irradn. with a low power (60W) visible lamp. A relationship was also obsd. with the performances in H2 prodn., in agreement with the photoelectrolysis mechanism. Part of these results were realized in the frame of the EU project NATAMA coordinated from Prof. Richard Lambert. [on SciFinder(R)]