Simple Method to Fabricate Au Nanoparticle-Decorated TiO2 Nanotube Arrays for Enhanced Visible Light Photocurrent

Au nanoparticie-decorated TiOnanotube arrays are prepared by a simpie method,which is a thermal annealing thin gold film deposited on anodic oxidized TiOnanotube arrays.These electron microscope images present that Au nanoparticles are well dispersed within the wall and on the surface of the TiOnanotubes.Meanwhile,the morphologies of Au nanoparticles can be controlled by changing the thickness of the deposited gold film.Associated with the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonances,the prepared Au nanoparticie-decorated TiOnanotube arrays could work as visible light responsive photocatalysts to produce a greatly enhanced photocurrent density.By varying the initial gold Elm thickness,such Au nanoparticie-decorated TiOnanotube arrays could be optimized to obtain the highest photocurrent generation efficiency in the visible and UV light regions.