Photoelectrolysis of water by use of thermally grown titanium oxide films

Abstract

The photoelectrolytic properties of thermally formed titanium oxide layers on titanium have been investigated for abraded and vacuum-annealed samples. The efficiency of annealed electrodes depended upon the oxide thickness, showing a maximum near 200 nm. The observed increase in efficiency was noted mainly at shorter wavelengths for annealed specimens. In all samples investigated, the vacuum-annealed samples had the greatest photocurrent and lowest dark current.