Abstarct: Nanostructured colloidal semiconductors with heterogeneous photocatalytic behavior have drawn considerable attention over the past few years. This is due to their large surface area, high redox potential of the photogenerated charge carriers, and selective reduction/oxidation of different classes of organic compounds. In the present paper, we have carried out a systematic synthesis of...

Heterostructured powders composed of microcrystalline (mc-) BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 cores coated with nanostructured (ns-) TiO2 shells were prepared using a solegel method. The influences of annealing temperature, coating thickness, cocatalyst loading, and core size on photocatalytic hydrogen production were experimentally determined. The amount of hydrogen produced depends on the annealing temperatu...

A novel process was developed for direct synthesis and in situ coating of flame-made nanostructured particles in one step. Rutile TiO2 particles made by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) were coated in a single step with SiO2 layers in an enclosed flame reactor. This in situ particle coating was accomplished by a hollow ring delivering hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) vapor (precursor to SiO2) through mu...

A hetero-nanostructured photoanode with enhanced near-infrared light harvesting is developed for photo-electrochemical cells. By spatially coating upconversion nanoparticles and quantum dot photosensitizers onto TiO2 inverse opal, this architecture allows direct irradiation of upconversion nanoparticles to emit visible light that excites quantum dots for charge separation. Electrons are injecte...

This paper presents titanium dioxide nanostructured surfaces prepared in organic electrolytes containing ammonium fluoride by anodic oxidation method. Two approaches were used for fabrication, one-step and two-step anodization. The obtained TiO2 surfaces have nanoporous structure. The morphology of anodized TiO2 nanostructures was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Electron lifetime in mesoporous nanostructured rutile TiO2 photoanodes, synthesized via a simple, cost-effective, low temperature (50-55 °C) wet chemical process, annealed at 350 °C for 1 h and not employing any sprayed TiO2 compact layer, was successfully tailored with 0.2 mM TiCl4 surface treatment that resulted in light to electric power conversion efficiency up to 4.4%.

We used anionic sulfate surfactants to assist the stabilization of graphene in aqueous solutions and facilitate the self-assembly of in situ grown nanocrystalline TiO2, rutile and anatase, with graphene. These nanostructured TiO2-graphene hybrid materials were used for investigation of Li-ion insertion properties. The hybrid materials showed significantly enhanced Li-ion insertion/extraction in...

Titania is the most widely studied photocatalyst. In its mixed-phase configuration ( anatase–rutile form) – as manifested in the commercially available P25 Degussa material – titania was previously found to exhibit the best photocatalytic properties reported for the pure system. A great deal of published research by various workers in the field has not fully explained the underlying mechanism f...

The efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) depends critically on the electronic structure of the interfaces in the active region. We employ recently developed dispersion-inclusive density functional theory (DFT) and GW methods to study the electronic structure of TiO2 clusters sensitized with catechol molecules. We show that the energy level alignment at the dye-TiO2 interface is the r...

Development of nanostructured photocatalysts for harnessing solar energy in energy-efficient and environmentally benign way remains an important area of research. Pure and WO3-surface modified thin films of TiO2 were prepared by magnetron sputtering on indium tin oxide glass, and photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic activities of these films were studied. TiO2 particles were <50 nm, while de...