Photoelectrochemical characteristics of TiO_2 nanorod arrays grown on fluorine doped tin oxide substrates by the facile seeding layer assisted hydrothermal method

TiO2 nanorod arrays （NRAs） were prepared on,fluorine doped tin oxide （FTO） substrates by a facile two-step hydrothermal method. The nanorods were selectively grown on the FTO regions which were covered with TiO2 seeding layer. It took 5 h to obtain the compact arrays with the nanorod length of -2 μm and diameter of-50 nm. The photoelectrochemical （PEC） properties of TiO2 NRAs are also investigated. It is demonstrated that the TiO2 NRAs indicate the good photoelectric conversion ability with an efficiency of 0.22% at a full-wavelength irradiation. A photocurrent density of 0.21 mA/cm2 is observed at 0,7 V versus the saturated calomel electrode （SCE）. More evidences suggest that the charge transferring resistance is lowered at an irradiation, while the flat-band potential （Vgb） is shifted towards the positive side.