Structural and photoelectrochemical properties of fibrous silica-titania (FST) photocatalyst for water splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an ecologically friendly technique that uses effective photoanodes to generate hydrogen (H₂). The microemulsion approach was used to develop a distinctive form displaying fibrous silica-titania (FST) photoanode. We examined the photocatalytic attributes of FST, hematite (Fe₂O₃), and zinc oxide (ZnO). XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, XPS, UV–vis/DRS, and EIS were used to investigate the FST, Fe₂O₃, and ZnO. By using these techniques, a bicontinuous concentric lamellar arrangement with an ample surface area has been developed within FST. Characterization results demonstrate that FST has superior catalytic activity when compared to Fe₂O₃ and ZnO. The FST photoanode has an improved photocurrent density of 11.75 mA/cm² and a 14.1% Solar-to-hydrogen (STH %) efficacy, which is greater than ZnO and Fe₂O₃, which performed at 4.7 mA/cm² and 2.8 mA/cm² with 5.6% and 3.36% STH efficiency, respectively. Moreover, we also compared the Solar-to-hydrogen (STH %) effectiveness of FST with different of TiO₂ photoanodes. We absorbed that the band gap is decreased when Ti is added to the silica matrix, which facilitates the formation of Si–Ti bonds. FST displays a remarkable closeness of its conduction band (CB) to the hydrogen reduction potential in comparison to ZnO and Fe₂O₃, allowing for quick electron transfer and rapid production of H₂. The geometry of FST design provides a novel way for producing robust and exceptionally productive photoanodes for PEC water splitting.