A significant cathodic shift in the onset potential and enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting using Au nanoparticles decorated WO3 nanorod array.

Au nanoparticles decorated WO3 nanorod array was prepared and applied for solar water oxidation. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscop images showed that Au distributed on the surface of WO3 nanorod array. The surface plasmon resonance effect of Au nanoparticles contributed to the enhancement of photoelectrochemical performance of Au-WO3 photoanode, such as enhanced photocurrent density of 1.17mA/cm(2) at 1.0V vs Ag/AgCl, a cathodic shift of onset of ∼0.2V and higher stability. UV-vis absorption, electrochemical impedance and Mott-Schottky measurements proved that Au-WO3 photoanode has enhanced light absorption, lower transfer resistance, increased photogenerated carriers density and higher hole injection yield. Therefore, Au-WO3 photoanode exhibited higher photoelectrochemical performance than WO3 photoanode.