Ag-decorated hollow copper microtubes as a photocathode for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a photoelectrocatalytic study for a copper-silver system obtained in the form of microtubes using electrochemical template synthesis. CuOx/Cu hollow microtubes (HT) decorated with nanoscale silver particles by electrodeposition demonstrate the cathode photocurrent in 7.6 uAcm–2 when using LED light sources in the UVA-Vis spectral region and low polarization values. It was shown that the highest intensity of the photoresponse is achieved in the visible region at a wavelength of 450 nm. The stability test suggests that the retention of Ag/CuOx-HT is 95% after 12 hours of functioning.

Keywords

• photocathode
• hollow microtubes
• copper
• template synthesis
• hydrogen evolution reaction