Surface states as electron transfer pathway enhanced charge separation in TiO2 nanotube water splitting photoanodes

Surface states on TiO2 photoanodes are usually considered to hinder the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting via slowing charge transport and increasing charge recombination. Here, we found that electrochemically doping the TiO2 nanotubes electrode at a potential negative than its flat band potential will induce the insertion of protons into the lattice of TiO2 via a reaction of TiIVO2 + e− + H+ = TiIIIO(OH) to form the surface states. Photoelectrochemical/electrochemical tests confirmed that the surface states (Ti-OH) are an important photogenerated electron transfer route, significantly increasing charge separation efficiency, and hence contributing to the PEC performance enhancement. In addition, we have made a self-consistent explanation on Mott-Schottky (M–S) plots of the TiO2 nanotubes electrode, demonstrating that the M–S measurement is able to accurately describe electron filling and extraction into/from surface states and not suitable to determine the flat band potential of nanostructured TiO2 electrodes. Our results offer a new insight to understanding the role of surface states during the charge separation, transfer, and injection processes of the water splitting reaction.