Comparison of the reduction of metal oxide surfaces: TiO2-anatase, TiO2-rutile and SnO2-rutile

Reduction of stoichiometric metal oxide can be reached by two processes: oxygen vacancies or hydrogenation. We present DFT-GGA periodic calculations for the O vacancies in the bulk and selected slabs of TiO₂-rutile, TiO₂-anatase, and SnO₂-rutile as well as their hydrogenation. We focus on the comparison between these structures. Anatase is found more difficult to reduce than rutile. Contrary to the reduced rutile structure which has a high spin state, all the electrons of the reduced anatase are paired. SnO₂ is more easily reduced than TiO₂. Strongly reduced (1 1 0) surfaces undergo reconstructions. Hydrogenated structures of rutile and anatase show also different patterns. While on the rutile (1 1 0) face, all the H atoms are adsorbed on the bridging O atoms in rows and form bridging OH groups, in the most stable hydrogenated anatase (1 0 0) structure only half of them are located while the other half is bound to the fivefold coordinated Ti surface atoms.     

Oxygen defect dependent variation of band gap,Urbach energy and luminescence property of anatase,anatase–rutile mixed phase and of rutile phases of TiO2 nanoparticles

TiO₂ nanoparticles are prepared by a sol–gel method and annealed both in air and vacuum at different temperatures to obtain anatase, anatase–rutile mixed phase and rutile TiO₂ nanoparticles. The phase conversion from anatase to anatase–rutile mixed phase and to rutile phase takes place via interface nucleation between adjoint anatase nanocrystallites and annealing temperature and defects take the initiate in this phase transformation. The samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Anatase TiO₂ exhibits a defect related absorption hump in the visible region, which is otherwise absent in the air annealed samples. The Urbach energy is very high in the vacuum annealed and in the anatase–rutile mixed phase TiO₂. Vacuum annealed anatase TiO₂ has the lowest emission intensity, whereas an intense emission is seen in its air annealed counterpart. The oxygen vacancies in the vacuum annealed samples act as non-radiative recombination centers and quench the emission intensity. Oxygen deficient anatase TiO₂ has the longest carrier lifetime. Time resolved spectroscopy measurement shows that the oxygen vacancies act as efficient trap centers of electrons and reduce the recombination time of the charge carriers.     

Study on transformation mechanism of lithium titanate modified with hydrochloric acid

The effects of the concentration of hydrochloric acid and treatment time on the transformation of Li₂TiO₃ were studied in detail. The results demonstrate that lithium ions are easily removed from the (?133) and (?206) planes. In contrast, Li⁺ extraction requires a longer time for the (002) and (?131) planes. A mixture of the anatase and rutile phases, pure rutile, and pure anatase can be generated by treating Li₂TiO₃ with a suitable concentration of hydrochloric acid for an appropriate amount of time. The phase(s) that are present significantly affect the cyclic adsorption performance of a titanium lithium ion sieve and the dissolution of Ti. The transformation from H₂TiO₃ particles to TiO₂ primarily occurs via the dissolution-recrystallization process. The electrophilic H⁺ and highly electronegative Cl^? affect the Ti–O bond, resulting in the destruction of the Ti–O bond in TiO₆ octahedrons, promoting the structural rearrangement of anatase to rutile TiO₂.     

甲醇分子在金红石TiO2(110)和锐钛矿TiO2(001)表面吸附和反应的活性位点

通过高分辨的扫描隧道显微术研究并比较了金红石型TiO₂(110)-(1×1)和锐钛矿型TiO₂(001)-(1×4)两种表面的活性位点． 在金红石型TiO₂(110)-(1×1)表面, 观察到氧空位缺陷是O₂和CO₂分子的活性吸附位点,而五配位的Ti原子是水分子和甲醇分子的光催化反应活性位点．在锐钛矿型TiO₂(001)-(1×4)表面,观察到完全氧化的表面,Ti原子更可能是六配位的,H₂O和O₂分子均不易在这些Ti原子上吸附．经还原后表面出现富Ti的缺陷位点, 这些缺陷位点对H₂O和O₂分子表现出明显的活性． 锐钛矿型TiO₂(001)-(1×4)表面的吸附和反应活性并不具有很高的活性,某种程度上其表现出的活性似乎低于金红石型TiO₂(110)-(1×1)表面．     

Effect of Nb doping on morphology,crystal structure,optical band gap energy of TiO2 thin films

Nb–TiO₂ nanofibers and thin films were prepared using a sol–gel derived electrospinning and spin coating, respectively, by varying the Nb/Ti molar ratios from 0 to 0.59 to investigate the effect of Nb doping on morphology, crystal structure, and optical band gap energy of Nb–TiO₂. XRD results indicated that Nb–TiO₂ is composed of anatase and rutile phases as a function of Nb/Ti molar ratio. As the Nb/Ti molar ratio rose, the anatase to rutile phase transformation and the reduction in crystallite size occurred. The band gap energy of Nb–TiO₂ was changed from 3.25 eV to 2.87 eV when the anatase phase was transformed to rutile phase with increasing the Nb doping. Experimental results indicated that the Nb doping was mainly attributed to the morphology, the crystal structure, the optical band gap energy of Nb–TiO₂, and the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue.     

锐钛矿相和金红石相TiO2:Nb的光电性能研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算了锐钛矿相和金红石相TiO₂:Nb的晶体结构、电子结构和光学性质. 结果表明, 在相等的摩尔掺杂浓度下(6.25%), 锐钛矿相TiO₂:Nb的导带底电子有效质量小于金红石相TiO₂:Nb, 且前者室温载流子浓度是后者的两倍左右, 即具有更大的施主杂质电离率, 从而解释了锐钛矿相TiO₂:Nb比金红石相TiO₂:Nb具有更优异电学性能的实验现象. 光学计算也表明锐钛矿相在可见光区有更大的透过率, 从而在理论上解释了锐钛矿相TiO₂:Nb比金红石相TiO₂:Nb更适于做透明导电材料的原因. 计算结果与实验数据能较好符合. 关键词： 2:Nb')" href="#">TiO₂:Nb 第一性原理 电子结构 光学性能     

First-principles study on magnetism and electronic structure of V-doped rutile TiO2

We have investigated the magnetism and the electronic structure of V-doped rutile TiO₂ using the first-principles full potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method. Total energy calculations reveal that V-doped rutile TiO₂ has a stable ferromagnetic ground state. Meanwhile, the electronic structure analysis indicates that V-doped rutile TiO₂ is a half-metal within the local density approximation (LDA) while a semiconductor within the LDA + U (Hubbard coefficient). The calculated magnetic moment in V-doped rutile TiO₂ mainly arises from the V atom with a little contribution from the nearest-neighboring O atoms due to the hybridization between the V 3d states and the nearest-neighboring O 2p states.     

Optical properties of anatase and rutile titanium dioxide: Ab initio calculations for pure and anion-doped material

The optical properties of rutile and anatase titanium dioxide (TiO₂) are calculated from the imaginary part of the dielectric function using pseudopotential density functional method within its generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and a scissors approximation. The fundamental absorption edges calculated for the unit cell of both rutile and anatase are consistent with experimentally reported results of single crystal rutile and anatase TiO₂ and with previous theoretical calculations. A significant optical anisotropy is observed in the anatase structure which holds promise for investigating the band gap modification with better visible-light response and provides a reliable foundation for addressing the effect of impurities on the fundamental absorption edge/band gap of anatase TiO₂. Further calculations on the electronic structure and the optical properties of C-, N-, and S-doped anatase TiO₂ are performed. The results are analyzed and discussed in terms of optical anisotropy and scissors approximations.     

Influence of the oxygen concentration on the formation of crystalline phases of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> during the low-pressure arc-discharge plasma synthesis

The synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles with different percentage of anatase and rutile phases is investigated. The synthesis is performed by controlling the oxygen percentage in the gas mixture in the plasmachemical evaporation–condensation process employing a low-pressure arc discharge. In all our experiments, the pressure in the plasmachemical reactor and the average size of particles remain constant and are 60 Pa and 6 nm, respectively. The crystal structure of synthesized TiO₂ is studied using X-ray diffraction; the morphology of the particles is analyzed employing transmission electron microscopy. Using X-ray phase analysis, it is established that the concentration of the TiO₂ anatase phase decreases upon a decrease in the oxygen concentration in the gas mixture. It is shown that the TiO₂ anatase phase is more efficient for photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue than the rutile phase.     

Curcumin-sensitized TiO2 for enhanced photodegradation of dyes under visible light

Curcumin was coated on P25 TiO₂ by using impregnation method from freshly prepared curcumin solution. The resulting products (Cur–TiO₂–P25) was studied by several techniques such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, and UV–Vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy. Experimental results revealed that impregnation of curcumin at 0.5, 3, 5, and 7 wt% did not affect the native phase of anatase and rutile in P25 significantly, however, it caused red shift of absorption onset in all curcumin-coated samples. The Cur–TiO₂–P25 showed enhanced adsorption efficiency and increased photocatalytic activity under visible light with optimal result at 5 wt% curcumin content. Commercial anatase and rutile coated with curcumin (Cur–TiO₂–an and Cur–TiO₂–ru) were also prepared by the same method for the use in comparative studies of photodegradation of dyes. Cur–TiO₂–an and Cur–TiO₂–ru were also characterized with some selected equipment above but not as extensively as the Cur–TiO₂–P25. Curcumin coating helped improve photocatalytic efficiencies of P25 and anatase but not for rutile. The mechanism of photocatalytic reaction was proposed that under visible light irradiation, curcumin molecule could act as dye sensitizing agent that injected electron into the conduction band of TiO₂ leading to photodegradation of dyes.     

Structural transformation study of TiO2 nanoparticles annealing at different temperatures and the photodegradation process of eosin-Y

Hydrothermal method was used to prepare TiO₂ nanoparticles with annealing temperature at 500 °C–700 °C. The mixture of anatase-rutile phase was investigated by powerful tool of X-ray diffraction (XRD). The structural parameters of anatase and rutile mixture phaseTiO₂ nanoparticles were calculated from the Rietveld refinement. The transformation rate of rutile was increased linearly with an annealing temperature of 500 °C–700 °C. The spherical morphology of the anatase and rutile mixed phase were obtained by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The spherical particle of the anatase and rutile TiO₂ shows with great aggregation with different size and within the range of few tens nm. The EDAX study revealed the presence of titanium and oxygen. The best photocatalytic activity was identified as the 87.04% of anatase and 12.96% of rutile mixer phase of TiO₂. Various factors could be involved for a better photocatalytic activity.     

First-principles study on electronic,magnetic properties and optical absorption of vanadium doped rutile TiO2

The electronic, magnetic properties and optical absorption of vanadium (V) doped rutile TiO₂ have been studied by the generalized gradient approximation GGA and GGA+U (Hubbard coefficient) approach respectively. On the one hand, we consider the influence of vanadium with different doping concentration on the electronic structure. On the other hand, we study double V atoms doped TiO₂, mainly study four V-doped TiO₂ configurations, and find the magnetic ground states are ferromagnetic state. For the TiO₂@V-V1, TiO₂@V-V3 and TiO₂@V-V4 configurations without O ion as bridge between V-V atoms, there will have a metastable state of antiferromagnetic configurations, while, for the TiO₂@V-V2 configurations with an O ion as bridge between V-V atoms, due to the existence of superexchange between V-O-V, there will only exist the ground state of ferromagnetic state and there are no other metastable configurations. Furthermore, the optical properties of V-doped TiO₂ are calculated. The results show that the V-doped TiO₂ has strong infrared light absorption and visible light absorption.     

Effect of annealing on TiO2 nanoparticles

TiO₂ nanoparticles have been prepared by simple chemical precipitation method and annealed at different temperatures. The as-prepared TiO₂ are amorphous, and they transform into anatase phase on annealing at 450 °C, and rutile phase on annealing at 900 °C. The X-ray diffraction results showed that TiO₂ nanoparticles with grain size in the range of 21–24 nm for anatase phase and 69–74 nm for rutile phase have been obtained. FESEM images show the formation of TiO₂ nanoparticles with small size in structure. The FTIR and Raman spectra exhibited peaks corresponding to the anatase and rutile structure phases of TiO₂. Optical absorption studies reveal that the absorption edge shifts towards longer wavelength (red shift) with increase of annealing temperature.     

Investigation on SERS of different phase structure TiO2 nanoparticles

In this paper, anatase and rutile TiO₂ nanoparticles as well as their mixed crystal phase structure TiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol‐hydrothermal method, and were served as active substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) study. The results show that the 4‐mercaptobenzoic acid probe molecules exhibit different degree SERS enhancements on the surface of different phase structure TiO₂ nanoparticles. The mixed crystal structure TiO₂ with an appropriate proportion of anatase and rutile phase is favourable to SERS enhancement of adsorbed molecules. These are mainly attributed to the contributions of the TiO₂‐to‐molecule charge transfer mechanism and the mixed crystal effect. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heterojunctions of TiO2 nanoparticle film and c-Si with different Fermi level positions

The photovoltaic properties of heterojunctions of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticle films with single crystal silicon (c-Si) substrates with different Fermi level (E _f) positions were studied. The TiO₂ nanoparticles of rutile and anatase structures were studied without any sintering process. To clarify the photovoltaic properties, the characteristics of the heterojunction solar cells of TiO₂ nanoparticle films with p-Si and n-Si substrates were investigated, where several Si substrates with different resistivities were used. The I–V characteristics of p-Si/TiO₂ heterojunction showed the rectifying behavior and photovoltaic effect. The n-Si/TiO₂ heterojunction also showed good rectifying characteristics; however, the conversion efficiency was extremely lower than that of p-Si/TiO₂ heterojunction. The conversion efficiencies of various Si/TiO₂ (rutile) heterojunction solar cells against the Fermi level E _f of c-Si showed the maximum in the p-doped region. The photovoltaic properties of the Si/TiO₂ heterojunction also depended on the crystal structure of TiO₂, and the conversion efficiency of anatase is higher than that of rutile, which was attributed to the higher carrier mobility of anatase.     

Integration of individual TiO2 nanotube on the chip: Nanodevice for hydrogen sensing

Titania (TiO₂) exists in several phases possessing different physical properties. In view of this fact, we report on three types of hydrogen sensors based on individual TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) with three different structures consisting of amorphous, anatase or anatase/rutile mixed phases. Different phases of the NTs were produced by controlling the temperature of post‐anodization thermal treatment. Integration of individual TiO₂ nanotubes on the chip was performed by employing metal deposition function in the focused ion beam (FIB/SEM) instrument. Gas response was studied for devices made from an as‐grown individual nanotube with an amorphous structure, as well as from thermally annealed individual nanotubes exhibiting anatase crystalline phase or anatase/rutile heterogeneous structure. Based on electrical measurements using two Pt complex contacts deposited on a single TiO₂ nanotube, we show that an individual NT with an anatase/rutile crystal structure annealed at 650 °C has a higher gas response to hydrogen at room temperature than samples annealed at 450 °C and as‐grown. The obtained results demonstrate that the structural properties of the TiO₂ NTs make them a viable new gas sensing nanomaterial at room temperature. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

First-principles calculations on TiO2 doped by N, Nd, and vacancy

First-principles density functional theory calculations have been carried out to investigate electronic structures of anatase TiO₂ with substitutional dopants of N, Nd, and vacancy, which replace O, Ti, and O, respectively. The calculation on N-doped TiO₂ with the local density approximation (LDA) demonstrates that N doping introduces some states located at the valence band maximum and thus makes the original band gap of TiO₂ smaller. Examining the effect of the strong correlation of Nd 4f electrons on the electronic structure of Nd-doped TiO₂, we have obtained the half-metallic ground state with the LDA and the insulating ground state with the LDA+U (Hubbard coefficient), respectively. In addition, the calculation on vacancy-doped TiO₂ with the LDA shows that a vacancy can induce some states in the band-gap region, which act as shallow donors.     

Phase transition and thermodynamic properties of TiO2 from first-principles calculations

The pressure induced phase transitions of TiO2 from anatase to columbite structure and from rutile to columbite structure and the temperature induced phase transition from anatase to rutile structure and from columbite to rutile structure are investigated by ab initio plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory method(DFT),together with quasi-harmonic Debye model.It is found that the zero-temperature transition pressures from anatase to columbite and from rutile to columbite are 4.55 GPa and 19.92 GPa,respectively.The zero-pressure transition temperatures from anatase to rutile and from columbite to rutile are 950 K and 1500 K,respectively.Our results are consistent with the available experimental data and other theoretical results.Moreover,the dependence of the normalized primitive cell volume V/V0 on pressure and the dependences of thermal expansion coefficient α on temperature and pressure are also obtained successfully.     

Femtosecond Diffuse-Reflectance Spectroscopy of Various Commercially Available TiO2 Powders

The transient absorption properties of several commercially available TiO₂ photocatalysts were investigated by femtosecond diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy. Using femtosecond diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy, the quantities and rates of the initial trapping processes of holes and electrons generated by the photoexcitation of TiO₂ photocatalysts were investigated. It was found that the total amounts of trapped electrons for the pure-anatase and pure-rutile TiO₂ became smaller with increasing particle size, but increased again when the particles’ diameters were larger than 50 nm. The anatase–rutile mixed TiO₂ photocatalysts were found to have smaller amounts of trapped electrons compared with pure-anatase and pure-rutile TiO₂ photocatalysts. The lifetimes of trapped holes of various TiO₂ photocatalysts were also investigated, and it was found that the lifetimes were proportional to the anatase–rutile mixed ratios.     

Phase transition rate of anatase during detonation synthesis of TiO2

TiO₂ powders were synthesized by two types of mixed explosives in a sealed reaction kettle. The phase and morphology of TiO₂ powders were obtained by X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. Results indicate that powders obtained from metatitanic acid contained mixed explosive are mixed crystal of anatase and rutile. The phase transition rate of anatase increases from 22.9% to 93.3% with the rise of mass ratio of hexogen, and the grain size also enlarges gradually. The powder obtained from anatase contained mixed explosive is rutile, and the phase transition rate of anatase is 100%. Compared with that before detonation, the grain size of anatase after detonation significantly changes, from nanoscale to micronscale. Based on the calculation of detonation parameters, the phase transition process and grain growth during the synthesis of TiO₂ by means of detonation method are analyzed, and the nucleating collision–growth model is proposed.