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) TiO2(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 TiO2 increased the resistance of the TiO2/catalyst interface which is assumed to decrease charge recombination from TiO2 to the oxidized catalyst 2. The work presented here provides an effective method to improve the performances of DS-PECs.

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