Enhanced visible-light photoelectrochemical and photoelectrocatalytic activity of nano-TiO 2 /polyimide/Ni foam photoanode

We report a novel method for fabrication of a nano-TiO 2 /polyimide (PI)/Ni foam photoanode. Characterization results indicated that porous nanostructured TiO 2 films were successfully immobilized and dispersed into the indivisible PI/Ni foam substrate. The prepared photoanode exhibited intense visible-light absorption from 400 to 700 nm, high photoinduced current of 175 μA/cm 2 , and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) efficiency of 98.8 % for degradation of methylene blue (MB) within 180 min of simulated solar light irradiation. Moreover, the TiO 2 /PI/Ni foam photoanode showed obvious visible-light PEC performance, mainly attributed to formation of TiO 2 –PI charge-transfer (CT) complexes and high separation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers by the applied bias potential. This study provides a new perspective for preparation of cheap, high-performance visible-light photoelectrocatalytic films.