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Updated: Dec 3, 2025
Harvesting Solar Energy by Means of Charge-Separating Nanocrystals and Their Solids
Published on: August 23, 2012
Surface polaron states on single-crystal rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays enhancing charge separation and transfer
Qimeng Yang1, Heng Zhu, Yanghui Hou
1Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, No. 22, Hankou Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, P. R. China. yscfei@nju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Polaron states on TiO2 photoanodes provide an important electron transfer pathway at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Here, we electrochemically doped single-crystal rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays with exposed (110) facets to produce surface polaron states, Ti3+-OH, which greatly contributed to charge separation and transfer. Our results experimentally clarified the previously confused understanding of the origin of improved photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance and verified that the enhanced PEC effects mainly arise from surface polaron states instead of grain boundary passivation.
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