In order to enhance the electron transport on the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells, one-dimensional rutile nanorods were prepared using electrospun TiO2 nanofibers. The grain size of the nanorods increased with increasing temperature. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed reduced interface resistance of the cells with the one-dimensional rutile nanorods due t...

The heterophase solid–solid junction as an important type of structure unit has wide applications for its special mechanics and electronic properties. Here we present a first three-phase atomic model for the anatase–rutile TiO2 heterophase junction and determine its optical and electronic properties, which leads to resolution of the long-standing puzzles on the enhanced photocatalytic activity ...

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on hierarchical rutile TiO(2) flower clusters prepared by a facile, one-pot hydrothermal process exhibit a high efficiency. Complex yet appealing rutile TiO(2) flower films are, for the first time, directly hydrothermally grown on a transparent conducting fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. The thickness and density of as-grown flower clusters ca...

The heterophase solid-solid junction as an important type of structure unit has wide applications for its special mechanics and electronic properties. Here we present a first three-phase atomic model for the anatase-rutile TiO2 heterophase junction and determine its optical and electronic properties, which leads to resolution of the long-standing puzzles on the enhanced photocatalytic activity ...

The prototypical photocatalyst TiO2 exists in different polymorphs, the most common forms are the anatase- and rutile-crystal structures. Generally, anatase is more active than rutile, but no consensus exists to explain this difference. Here we demonstrate that it is the bulk transport of excitons to the surface that contributes to the difference. Utilizing high -quality epitaxial TiO2 films of...

The most widely used oxide for photocatalytic applications owing to its low cost and high activity is TiO2. The discovery of the photolysis of water on the surface of TiO2 in 19721 launched four decades of intensive research into the underlying chemical and physical processes involved2–5. Despite much collected evidence, a thoroughly convincing explanation of why mixed-phase samples of anatase ...

Single-crystalline rutile nanorods were synthesized by a facile acid treatment on titanate nanotubes. These rutile nanorods could be highly dispersed in water to form a stable colloidal solution. Cu(2+) ions were grafted onto these rutile nanorods, and the Cu(2+)-grafted nanorods could absorb visible light by the interfacial charge transfer between the valence band of rutile TiO(2) and surface-...

TiO2 with tailored anatase/rutile composition has been prepared from the supercritical antisolvent (SAS) precipitation of a range of titanium alkoxides. The calcination of the SAS TiO2 was monitored by in situ powder X-ray diffraction to determine the optimal calcination conditions for the formation of a mixed anatse/rutile phase TiO2. The SAS precipitated material calcined at 450 °C produced a...

A synergistic effect between anatase and rutile TiO2 is known, in which the addition of rutile can remarkably enhance the photocatalytic activity of anatase in the degradation of organic contaminants. In this study, mixed-phase TiO2 nanocomposites consisting of anatase and rutile nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared for use as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and were characterize...

By using one-dimensional rutile TiO(2) nanorod arrays as the structure-directing scaffold as well as the TiO(2) source to two consecutive hydrothermal reactions, densely aligned SrTiO(3) -modified rutile TiO(2) heterojunction photocatalysts are crafted for the first time. The first hydrothermal processing yielded nanostructured rutile TiO(2) with the hollow openings on the top of nanorods (i.e....