In situ formation of porous TiO₂ nanotube array with MgTiO₃ nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Heterostructured semiconductor photocatalysts are desirable for applications such as purification of pollutants and water splitting due to the enhanced charge separation. In this work, porous TiO₂ nanotube arrays loaded with MgTiO₃ nanoparticles (MgTiO₃/P-TiO₂ NTAs) are prepared hydrothermally by anodization of TiO₂ NTAs in the magnesium acetate (Mg(AC)₂) solution. The photocatalytic (PC) activity of MgTiO₃/P-TiO₂ NTAs evaluated by monitoring the degradation of methyl blue (MB) reveals that the effectiveness is related to the thickness of MgTiO₃ layer on TiO₂. The best PC activity is observed from the MgTiO₃/P-TiO₂ NTAs hydrothermally treated at 200 °C for 1 h, the degradation rate is twice that of pristine anatase TiO₂ NTAs and the transient photocurrent is three times higher. The heterostructured MgTiO₃/P-TiO₂ NTAs with good PC characteristics have large potential in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water decomposition and solar cell applications.