Abstract
The present work investigates the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 nanotubes with different tube top morphologies. Such morphological variations are obtained when growing self-organized nanotube arrays under different (but widely used) anodization conditions. We compare the most typical appearances of tube tops that are: i) "grassy" tubes, ii) tubes with initiation layers, iii) doubled anodized and iv) "open" tubes. The results show that tubes with an open, defined mouth have a significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance in open circuit, dye degradation experiments as well as when used as a photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.