Polymeric carbon nitride coated Nb-TiO2 nanorod arrays with enhanced photoelectrocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.

Abstract In this work, the visible light responsive photoelectrocatalytic performance of titanium dioxide nanorod arrays (TiO 2 -NRs) were improved by the synergetic effect of heterojunction construction and doping strategy. First of all, the conductivity of TiO 2 -NRs was improved by niobium doping. The photocurrent of doped sample was 1.39 times larger than that of the pristine TiO 2 -NRs under UV light. On this basis, g-C 3 N 4 was coated onto the niobium doped TiO 2 -NRs and induced to significant enhanced photoelectrochemical performance under visible light irradiation. The optimal Nb-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 photoanode generated a photocurrent of 9.33 mA, which was about 19.04 times as that of the Nb-TiO 2 nanorod. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Novel Nb-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts were synthesized by a facile method using hydrothermal and saturated aqueous solution. • The Nb-TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts have enhanced photoelectrocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. • The photoelectric catalysis performance of TiO 2 - NRs was improved by the heterojunction and the doping strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]