Silicon Compound Decorated Photoanode for Performance Enhanced Visible Light Driven Water Splitting

An efficient dye ( 1 ) sensitized photoelectrochemical cell (DS-PEC) has been assembled with a silicon compound (3-chloropropyl)trimethoxy-silane ( Si-Cl ) decorated working electrode (WE) TiO 2 ( 1   +   2 ). The introduction of this Si-Cl molecule on photoanode leads to better performances on efficiency than untreated ones for light driven water splitting. The firm Si-O layer formed on TiO 2 increased the resistance of the TiO 2 /catalyst interface which is assumed to decrease charge recombination from TiO 2 to the oxidized catalyst 2 . The work presented here provides an effective method to improve the performances of DS-PECs.