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As an effective means to improve charge carrier separation efficiency and directional transport, the gradient doping of foreign elements to build multi-homojunction structures inside catalysts has received wide attentions. Herein, we reported a simple and robust method to construct multi-homojunctions in black TiO2 nanotubes by the gradient doping of Ni species through the diffusion of deposited Ni element on the top of black TiO2 nanotubes driven by a high temperature annealing process. The gradient Ni distribution created parts of different Fermi energy levels and energy band structures within the same black TiO2 nanotube, which subsequently formed two series of multi-homojunctions within it. This special multi-homojunction structure largely enhanced the charge carrier separation and transportation, while the low concentration of defect states near the surface layer further inhibited carrier recombination and facilitated the surface reaction. Thus, the B-TNT-2Ni sample with the optimized Ni doping concentration exhibited an enhanced hydrogen evolution rate of ~ 1.84 mmol·g−1·h−1 under visible light irradiation without the assistance of noble-metal cocatalysts, ~ four times higher than that of the pristine black TiO2 nanotube array. With the capability to create multi-homojunction structures, this approach could be readily applied to various dopant systems and catalyst materials for a broad range of technical applications.

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 18 May 2022
Revised: 12 September 2022
Accepted: 14 September 2022
Published: 15 November 2022
Issue date: February 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The financial support is gratefully acknowledged from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 62004137, 21878257, and 21978196), the Natural Science Foundation (NSF) of Shanxi Province (No. 20210302123102), the Key Research and Development Program of Shanxi Province (No. 201803D421079), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi (No. 2019L0156), the Research Project Supported by Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (No. 2020-050), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2682021CX116), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2020YJ0259).

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