Among these methods, SILAR is the most commonly used given its simple technique and capacity to produce high-quality nanoparticles in large scale. One-dimensional (1D) single-crystalline oxide array is very popular because of its higher specific surface area than that of its film, its ability to grow easily over a large area on the substrate, as well as its bandgap that can match well with CdS. Several studies on 1D single-crystalline oxide array have been reported [18, 19]. Yao et al. [18] reported on CdS QD-sensitized ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) that displayed a power conversion efficiency of 1.07%. CdS QD-sensitized TiO2 NRA solar cells have been
prepared through the CBD method with a photocurrent intensity of 5.13 mA/cm2 at 0-V potential and an open-circuit potential of −0.68 V [19]. We have synthesized various sizes of CdS QDs and dye-co-sensitized TiO2 NRA solar cells PF-01367338 price by SILAR, yielding a power conversion efficiency of 2.81%
[20]. In the present study, the photoelectrochemical properties and stability of the TiO2/CdS core-shell NRA photoelectrode were studied. In our experiment, TiO2 nanorods Selleck MK 1775 were prepared through the hydrothermal method without a seed layer, and the CdS QDs were synthesized by SILAR. The optimum CdS QD-sensitized TiO2 NRA photoelectrode that formed the TiO2/CdS core-shell structure with a shell thickness of 35 nm was fabricated by SILAR in 70 cycles and then annealed at 400°C for 1 h in air atmosphere. This photoelectrode presented an improvement in light harvesting, ultimately producing a saturated photocurrent of 3.6 mA/cm2 under the irradiation of AM1.5G simulated QNZ chemical structure sunlight at 100 mW/cm2. In particular, the saturated current density maintains a fixed value of approximately 3 mA/cm2 without decadence as time passed under the light conditions, indicating the steady photoelectronic property of the photoanode. Methods TiO2 NRAs were prepared
through enough the hydrothermal method. Approximately 8 mL of deionized water was mixed with 8 mL of concentrated hydrochloric acid (36.5% to 38% by weight) to reach a total volume of 16 mL. The mixture was stirred in air for 5 min. Then, 0.2 mL of titanium butoxide was added into the solution, which was stirred for another 5 min. A fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate (approximately 2 cm × 2 cm) was placed in a 20-mL autoclave. The hydrothermal method was used to grow the TiO2 NRAs at 150°C for 10 h. Samples were annealed at 500°C for 2 h in air. CdS QDs were deposited on the TiO2 nanorods through SILAR. The FTO substrate grown with TiO2 NRAs was immersed in a 0.3 mol/L Cd(CH3COO)2 aqueous solution for 2 min, rinsed with deionized water, then immersed for another 2 min in a 0.3 mol/L Na2S aqueous solution, and rinsed with deionized water.