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Highly ordered TiO 2 nanorod (TNR) array films decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) by a hydrothermal treatment and a successive ionic layer adsorption reaction (SILAR) technique. The amount of Ag NPs on the TNR can be controlled by changing the number of cycles in silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) solution. The morphology, structure, composition, optical, photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties of the Ag/TNR films were investigated in detail. The Ag/TNR films exhibit larger redshift of the absorption edges and higher absorption intensities in the visible light range. Furthermore, the Ag/TNR films sensitized with 5 SILAR cycles show the best photocurrent density (32 μA/cm 2 ) and photodegradation efficiency (95.52%), which is 5.7 and 1.3 times higher than that of pure TNR, respectively. The excellent properties can be ascribed to localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of Ag NPs. The stability and reusability of the Ag/TNR films were also investigated. Therefore, the Ag/TNR films with high performance and stability can be used in potential applications.

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ZnO nanorods were grown on ITO substrates with different concentration of electrolyte by electrodeposition method. Microstructure, surface topography, photoluminescence spectra, Raman spectra and water contact angle of the thin films were measured. The XRD results show all samples are hexagonal wurtzite and the intensity of diffraction peaks at (002) preferred orientation are strengthen as electrolyte concentration increase from 0.005 to 0.03 M. As the concentration increases, the average diameter, density and inclination of the ZnO nanorods increased. Room temperature photoluminescence spectras of the ZnO nanorods show a narrow UV band centering at about 377 nm and broad visible emissions around 600 nm and the UV peak intensity revealed a remarkable decreased. Raman spectras exhibit three peaks which are located at 439 cm −1 , 562 cm −1 and 1095 cm −1 . All samples change from hydrophobicity to hydrophilic after one hour ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. As an important wide bandgap (3.37 eV) semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy (60 meV), the wurtzite ZnO has triggered great interest in the past decade due to its great performance and potential applications in electro-optics, [23][24][25] and so on. Among the various growth methods, cathodic electrodeposition represents a rapid and cost-effective approach to the fabrication of ZnO thin films microstructures, which is widely used in the laboratory and industrial production.What's more, the wetting properties of ZnO thin films are very important from both fundamental and practical viewpoint. In recent years, ZnO thin films with special wetting properties have attracted much attention. Papadopoulou et al. 26 prepared hierarchically ZnO structures by irradiating silicon (Si) wafers with femtosecond laser pulses and subsequently coating them with ZnO by pulsed laser deposition. The ZnO thin films exhibit roughness at two length scales, and its surface wetting properties can be rapidly and reversibly switched between hydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity. He et al. 27 first put zinc foil oxidized in air and then deposited ZnO nanorods on zinc foil substrate by electrochemical deposition method, resulting in the formation of nanorods structures. The diameter of these nanorods are about 116 nm, and the films show an excellent superhydrophobicity. In this paper, ZnO nanorods were prepared within one step by cathodic electrodeposition method. In order to regulate the morphology of ZnO thin films, different amounts of Zn(NO 3 ) 2 •6H 2 O were added to the electrolyte. Microstructure, surface morphology and optical properties of the ZnO thin films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and microRaman spectroscope system. At last, wettability of the ZnO thin films and photoinduced hydrophilicity were tested through water contact angle apparatus. * Electrochemical Society Active Member.z E-mail: szq@ahu.edu.cn ExperimentalZnO thin films were prepared by three-electrode system, the electrochemical workstation (CHI600D) ...