Precise control the microstructural, optical, photocatalytic, and photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 nanoarrays through changing with growth substrate via hydrothermal method

A series of TiO 2 nanostructures with rutile phase were synthesized on arbitrary substrates of conductive transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), and glass at the low temperature of 150 °C by the hydrothermal method. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, UV–Vis absorption, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The effects of growth substrates on the morphologies and optical properties of nanostructures were investigated. TiO 2 nanorods were grown on the FTO substrate, while TiO 2 nanoflowers were grown on the ITO and glass substrates, and the growth mechanism for these different nanostructures is discussed in detail. The results show that the TiO 2 nanorods can improve photocatalytic properties and photoelctrochemical (PEC) performance for its unique structure and optical properties. The TiO 2 nanorods exhibited a maximal photocatalytic rate of 4.42 min −1 and photocurrent density of 0.049 mA/cm 2 , which is about 1.52 and 3.03 times higher than those of TiO 2 nanoflowers grown on the ITO substrates, respectively. These findings are quite promising and encouraging for the use of TiO 2 nanoarrays in photocatalysis and energy applications.