Influence of TiO2's (101) crystal facet exposure on the photoelectroactivity of TiO2nanooctahedra/BiVO4nanocomposite

Abstract This work studies a research regarding the effect of exposing (101) crystal facet of anatase TiO2 to photoelectroactivity of photoanode composed of TiO2 nanooctahedra/BiVO4 nanocomposite film. Here, the photoanode was fabricated by depositing the nanocomposite on the surface of FTO via doctor blade technique. In this study, anatase TiO2 nanooctahedra were synthesized via solvothermal method in the presence of hydrazine hydrate as a directing agent. Furthermore, the as-prepared TiO2 nanooctahedra was characterized using X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmelt-Tellers (BET) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). Based on the result, the diffraction peaks revealed characteristic for the pure anatase phase with exposure (101) crystal facet. Additionally, photoelectrochemical response of the photoanode was also evaluated using a three-electrode system and exhibited a significantly high current density value of 0.26 mA/cm2.