Intrinsic Au Decoration of Growing TiO2 Nanotubes and Formation of a High-Efficiency Photocatalyst for H2 Production

Electrochemical anodization of low-concentration (0.02–0.2 at% Au) TiAu alloys in a fluoride electrolyte leads to self-organized TiO2 nanotubes that show a controllable, regular in situ decoration with elemental Au nanoclusters of ≈5 nm in diameter. The degree of self-decoration can be adjusted by the Au concentration in the alloy and the anodization time. Such Au particle decorated tubes show a high activity for photocatalytic H2 production from ethanol solutions.