Facile electrochemical synthesis of CeO2@Ag@CdS nanotube arrays with enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance.

In this work, for the first time, three-component CeO2@Ag@CdS heterostructured nanotube arrays with remarkable photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance have been synthesized by an electrodeposition method. In this configuration, the modification with Ag nanoparticles can significantly strengthen light absorption and provide an interior direct pathway to facilitate the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers. Therefore, the CeO2@Ag@CdS heterostructured nanotubes generate a remarkable photocurrent density of 2.14 mA cm(-2) at a potential of -0.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), which is 9.8 and 2.4 times higher than that of the two-component CeO2@Ag system (0.218 mA cm(-2)) and the CeO2@CdS system (0.879 mA cm(-2)), respectively. It also gives efficiency as high as 69% around 360 nm in the incident photon to electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectrum. Moreover, the stability of the photoelectrode was tested over 16 min. Furthermore, these results provide a valuable insight for the further development of such materials for PEC water splitting.