초록
Nano-structured electrodes were fabricated to develop efficient photoelectrochemical conversion systems for the synthesis of hydrogen from water and hydrocarbon fuels from $CO_2$. In this work, we compared the photoactivity of rutile $TiO_2$ nanorods grown on FTO and SEED/FTO by a hydrothermal method. An analysis of the microstructures showed that the density of nanorod/SEED/FTO samples, which showed only the (002) peak in their x-ray diffraction patterns, was two times higher than that of a nanorod/FTO sample. The photocurrent density of nanorod/SEED/FTO samples was increased by as much as 40% of the photocurrent density of the nanorod/FTO sample due to the increased specific density of the nanorods. However, the transient time for a recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes was 20 times faster in the nanorod/SEED/FTO. The seed layers are discussed as possible recombination sites.