Rutile TiO 2 nanorods (NR) with different aspect ratios were synthesized using glycolic acid (GA) or lactic acid (LA) as a structuredirecting agent in a hydrothermal method. Various cocatalysts were loaded on NR(GA) and NR(LA), and their O 2 evolution rate was examined using K 2 S 2 O 8 as a sacrificial electron acceptor. We used three different methods for loading cocatalysts such as Pt, Ag, Cu 2+ , Fe 3+ , and RuO 2 . Time-resolved diffuse reflectance spectra of all samples indicated that a lifetime of trapped electrons in the range of picoseconds was varied depending on the loaded cocatalysts. Pt was the best as the cocatalysts for the photocatalytic water oxidation because neither dissolution of Pt ion in the solution nor O 2 evolution in the dark was observed. For comparison, we synthesized nearspherical TiO 2 nanoparticles, TiO 2 (sol−gel), using a sol−gel method. Comparison of the lifetimes and the O 2 evolution rate obtained with NR(GA), NR(LA), TiO 2 (sol−gel), and their Pt-loaded materials revealed that a shorter lifetime of the trapped electrons in the bulk was beneficial for getting the higher O 2 evolution rate. Pt-loaded NR(GA) exhibited the highest O 2 evolution rate because of the shortest lifetime of electrons in the bulk and efficient suppression of the recombination on the surface.