Abstract: After electrodeposion of Ni-W-P alloy on Cu sheet, nano-crystalline TiO2 film modified Ni-W-P electrode was prepared by a sol-gel method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cathodic polarization curves were used to characterize the surface morphology, microstructure and catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) of TiO2/Ni-W-P electrodes. Effects of the sintering temperature and the thickness of TiO2 film on the structure and performance of TiO2/Ni-W-P electrodes were researched. The results clearly demonstrate that the TiO2/Ni-W-P electrode annealed at 550℃ for 1h has the best photoelectrocatalytic activity for HER, and the overpotential for HER decreases about 140mV under illumination. The TiO2 film with average grain size of 7nm is mixed crystal structure containing anatase and rutile crystal phases.

Key words: nano-crystalline TiO2, Ni-W-P, photoelectrocatalytic activity, hydrogen evolution