Ferroelectric BiFeO3/TiO2 nanotube heterostructures for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

Ferroelectric based heterostructures have shown great promises in solar water splitting due to unique photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties including polarization-induced charge separation and tunable electrochemical surface reaction. A highly ordered ferroelectric BiFeO3/TiO2 nanotube (TNT) heterostructures were fabricated by anodic oxidation and pulsed laser deposition. The microscopic morphology, optical, and PEC properties of nanostructures were characterized. The BiFeO3/TNT photoelectrode is photoactive under visible light illumination, which exhibits higher photocurrent from greater water oxidation, compared with the pure TNT photoelectrode. The coating thickness of BiFeO3 strongly affected the photoelectrochemical properties. The enhanced PEC performance could be attributed to the effective charge separation and the favorable band bending for water oxidation, originating from ferroelectric polarization-related internal field. •Ferroelectric based heterostructures have shown great promises in solar water splitting.•The BiFeO3/TiO2 nanotube photoelectrode exhibits visible-light absorption capability.•The coating thickness of BiFeO3 strongly affects the photoelectrochemical properties associated with surface morphology.