Surface modification of semiconductor photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract The motivation of the present work was to obtain improved TiO 2 photoelectrode by admixing CeO 2 through sol gel process. The surface morphology, structural and PEC characterization of the TiO 2 overland with CeO 2 admixtures have been investigated in relation to hydrogen production through semiconductor septum photo-electro-chemical (SC-SEP PEC) solar cell. UV–Vis absorption spectra show a clear enhancement in the absorption range caused by admixing CeO 2 . The CeO 2 admixed ns TiO 2 exhibited a high photocurrent and photovoltage of 14.6 mA cm −2 and 920 mV. The ns TiO 2 – CeO 2 electrode showed high hydrogen gas evolution rate of 13.8 l h −1  m −2 in comparison to bare ns- TiO 2 photoelectrode which showed 8.6 l h −1  m −2 hydrogen gas evolution rates.