Preparation and photoelectrocatalytic activity of ZnO nanorods embedded in highly ordered TiO(2) nanotube arrays electrode for azo dye degradation

In this article, the ZnO nanorods embedded in highly ordered TiO(2) nanotube arrays (ZnO/TiO(2) NR/Ts) electrodes were fabricated through two steps: (1) electrosynthesis of TiO(2) nanotube arrays (TiO(2) NTs) in HF solution by anodization method; (2) followed by cathodic electrodeposition of ZnO embedded in the TiO(2) nanotube arrays. The morphological characteristics and structures of ZnO/TiO(2) NR/Ts electrodes were examined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and UV-vis spectra. The linear-sweep photovoltammetry response on the ZnO/TiO(2) NR/Ts electrode was presented and the photocurrent was dramatically enhanced on the ZnO/TiO(2) NR/Ts electrode, comparing with that on bare TiO(2) NTs electrode. The photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic activity of ZnO/TiO(2) NR/Ts electrode was evaluated in degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solution.