Integration of MgAl-layered double hydroxides into TiO2 nanorods as photoanodes for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting

The slow development of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting mainly results from the inefficient separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers. Herein, we fabricated a core-shell nanostructure by loading MgAl-layered double hydroxide (MgAl-LDH) nanofilms on the surface of TiO2 nanorods with a simple dip-coating method. The PEC performance was adjusted by controlling the immersion time, and TiO2/MgAl-LDH photoanode with an immersion time of 8 h achieved an optimal photocurrent density of 1.16 mA cm−2, which is 116 times that of TiO2. The improved interfacial charge transfer and reduced recombination loss of photogenerated electron-hole pairs account for the excellent performance.