Activation effect of silver nanoparticles on the photoelectrochemical performance of mesoporous TiO2 nanospheres photoanodes for water oxidation reaction

•We report the Ag/meso-TiO2 based catalyst for photoelectrochemical water oxidation.•Photocurrent density of 1 mA/cm2 was observed for Ag/m-TiO2 nanospheres photoanodes.•Superior performance was attributed to plasmonic photodeposited Ag nanoparticles.

This work reports the photodeposition of Ag nanoparticles onto mesoporous TiO2 (m-TiO2) pre-formed by the evaporation-induced self-assembly method. Photoanodes of Ag/m-TiO2 assembled by electrophoretic disclose a superior photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance for water oxidation reaction related to m-TiO2. The photoanodes physicochemical investigations witness the even arrangement of m-TiO2 nanospheres particles over the substrates. The PEC study displays a steady photocurrent density of 1 mAcm−2 at −1.0 V vs SCE was attained for Ag/m-TiO2 photoanodes in visible light illumination and it is nearly twofold enhancements in comparison with m-TiO2 photoanodes. The observed superior PEC nature was attributed to the reduced band-gap energy and charge recombination that caused from the incorporation of plasmonic photodeposited Ag nanoparticles on m-TiO2 nanospheres photoanodes.