Low Dimensional Oxide and Silicon Nanostructures for Promoting Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Electrospun titanium dioxide nanofibers can be applied to the surface of titanium dioxide nanotube photoanode to create a multiple component catalyst anode. The electrospinning process was found as a simple way to create the titanium oxide nanofibers with varying diameters ranging from 50 to 500 nm when polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used as the precursor for making the composite titanium oxide nanofiber with high surface area while perserving the intrinsic semiconductor properties of TiO2. Photoelectrochemical decomposition of ethanol was tested on the composite photoanode. Different nanostructured photoanodes including silicon nanowire anode were designed and tested to determine which photocatalyst had the fastest response time. The effect of ethanol fuel concentration on the photovoltaic response of the photoanode was also studied.