135920 20260219090932.0 doi 10.1039/d4su00160e sideral 138901 ART-2024-138901 eng Martínez-Barón, C. Towards sustainable TiO2 photoelectrodes based on cellulose nanocrystals as a processing adjuvant 2024 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Photoelectrodes of TiO2 in the form of films are commonly fabricated using screen printing techniques, employing viscous commercial TiO2 pastes. However, these pastes comprise environmentally unfriendly, multicomponent formulations designed to manufacture the photoactive TiO2 nanoparticles. To strive for sustainable processing and pave the way for the use of liquid-phase film processing technologies, the inherent limited water dispersibility of TiO2 nanoparticles must be overcome. In this study, we show that cellulose nanocrystals, produced via an environmentally benign one-pot hydrolysis process, enable the preparation of stable TiO2 water dispersions. The remarkable stability of these dispersions, evidenced by their outstanding ξ-potential values of −34 mV, facilitates the fabrication of macroporous TiO2 photoactive films throughout spray coating. Employed as photoanodes in a photoelectrochemical cell, our TiO2 photoanodes are compared with conventional TiO2 electrodes obtained from commercial pastes under water splitting conditions. Interestingly, our photoanodes reveal a remarkable three-fold enhancement of the photocurrent performance (132 vs. 46 μA cm−2) and a four-fold increase in the on–off response rate (4 vs. 1 s). These findings underscore the valuable role of cellulose nanocrystals as a green processing asset for achieving TiO2 water dispersions. Moreover, they serve as sacrificial adjuvants for preparing highly macroporous and functional film photoelectrodes, representing a significant step forward in the pursuit of sustainable and efficient materials processing. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E47-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/T03-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN PID2020-120439RA-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2022-139671OB-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es 4.9 2024 0.754 2024 Analytical Chemistry 2024 Q1 Electrochemistry 2024 Q2 Organic Chemistry 2024 Q2 Chemistry (miscellaneous) 2024 Q2 2.4 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Calvo, V. Hernández-Ferrer, J. Villacampa, B. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9814-0834 Ansón-Casaos, A. González-Domínguez, J. M. Maser, W. K. Benito, A. M. 2003 395 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Física Materia Condensa. Área Física Materia Condensada 2, 7 (2024), 2015-2025 RSC sustain. RSC Sustainability 2753-8125 1214178 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135920/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2702536 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135920/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:135920 articulos driver 2026-02-19-09:00:17 ARTICLE