Electronic and optical properties of pure and Mo doped anatase TiO2 using GGA and GGA+U calculations

Comparative GGA and GGA+U calculations for pure and Mo doped anatase TiO₂ are performed based on first principle theory, whose results show that GGA+U calculation provide more reliable results as compared to the experimental findings. The direct band gap nature of the anatase TiO₂ is confirmed, both by using GGA and GGA+U calculations. Mo doping in anatase TiO₂ narrows the band gap of TiO₂ by introducing Mo 4d states below the conduction band minimum. Significant reduction of the band gap of anatase TiO₂ is found with increasing Mo doping concentration due to the introduction of widely distributed Mo 4d states below the conduction band minimum. The increase in the width of the conduction band with increasing doping concentration shows enhancement in the conductivity which may be helpful in increasing electron–hole pairs separation and consequently decreases the carrier recombination. The Mo doped anatase TiO₂ exhibits the n-type characteristic due to the shifting of Fermi level from the top of the valence band to the bottom of the conduction band. Furthermore, a shift in the absorption edge towards visible light region is apparent from the absorption spectrum which will enhance its photocatalytic activity. All the doped models have depicted visible light absorption and the absorption peaks shift towards higher energies in the visible region with increasing doping concentration. Our results describe the way to tailor the band gap of anatase TiO₂ by changing Mo doping concentration. The Mo doped anatase TiO₂ will be a very useful photocatalyst with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity.     

Observation of carbon‐facilitated phase transformation of titanium dioxide forming mixed‐phase titania by confocal Raman microscopy

Confocal Raman microscopy, a relatively new and advanced technique, is found to be suitable for imaging the chemical morphology below the submicrometer scale. It has been employed to probe the phase transformation of carbon‐containing titania (TiO₂) nanopowder and titania thin film subjected to laser annealing. The observation of phase transformation from the anatase phase to the rutile phase at high laser power annealing is attributed to carbon inclusion inside or on the surface of titania. Upon annealing, carbon could react with the oxygen of titania and create oxygen vacancies favoring the transformation from the anatase to the rutile phase. This study provides evidence for the carbon‐assisted phase transformation for creating carbon‐containing mixed‐phase titanium dioxide by laser annealing. We explicitly focus on the presence of carbon in the phase transformation of TiO₂ using confocal Raman microscopy. In all of the investigated samples, mixed anatase/rutile phases with carbon specifically was found at the rutile site. X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy‐dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) studies have been performed in addition to Raman mapping to verify the mixed‐phase titania formation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical investigation on sulfur-doping effects in titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The sulfur-doping (S-doping) effects in TiO₂ nanoparticles are investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy with different S-doping levels (10 and 50%). Raman spectra indicate that the rutile and anatase phases dominate for the low S-doped (10%) and high S-doped (50%) TiO₂ nanoparticles, respectively. The variation of phase with different S-doping levels has been ascribed to the different S-doping processes into TiO₂ nanoparticles. In addition, an extra absorption band is observed in both the S-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles. With increasing S-doping level from 10 to 50%, the extra absorption band shows a blue-shift from 470 to 445 nm, which may be ascribed to the variation of phase from rutile to anatase for TiO₂.     

Resonant X-ray spectroscopy to study K absorption pre-edges in 3d transition metal compounds

Some general aspects concerning resonant X-ray spectroscopy are discussed and an analysis of the 1s3p RIXS plane in hematite (Fe₂O₃) and anatase titania (TiO₂) is presented. We emphasize the importance of recording a full RIXS plane as opposed to line scans. In a simple system such as hematite it is possible to assign the K absorption pre-edge features to ligand field split orbitals and non-local excitations using spin-selective spectroscopy. The core hole effect separates local and non-local excitations in titania.     

Growth and mechanism of titania nanowires

Anatase and rutile-phase titania nanowires have been prepared via an efficient molten salt-assisted and novel pyrolysis route, respectively. The growth of anatase nanowires is parallel to [010] direction. The anatase titanium oxide nanowires are obtained by exchange reaction between Na₂TiO₃ and HCl, whereas the formation of rutile titania nanowires is conventional vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism.     

Simple one-step ultrasonic synthesis of anatase titania/polypyrrole nanocomposites

In this work, hybrid nanocomposites based on anatase titania:polypyrrole (TiO₂:PPy) were directly obtained from a simple, one-step, ultrasonic (UT)-assisted synthesis. The properties of these crystalline nanocomposites were compared with those of others fabricated using cold (Cold)-assisted synthesis without any UT assistance, which required a hydrothermal treatment (HT) to yield crystalline anatase titania in the nanocomposite (TiO₂:PPy) at low temperature (130 °C) and in a short time (3 h). The SEM results demonstrated that the UT-assisted synthesis is a feasible method to obtain anatase TiO₂:PPy nanocomposites with controlled morphology using low energy. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) bands of the crystalline nanocomposites exhibited a shift with respect to neat components, which was attributed to the strong interaction between the secondary amine groups (N–H) of PPy and the oxygen from TiO₂. The acceptable absorption in the visible region (λ_max = 670 nm) indicates that these nanocomposites are good candidates for harvesting energy in solar cells. Devices based on these nanocomposites were built to evaluate their electrical properties. An increase in the photocurrent was observed for the devices prepared with the nanocomposites from the UT-assisted synthesis.     

An investigation of phase transformation of titania slag using microwave heating

The influences of microwave heating on the phase transformation of titania slag were systematically investigated. The thermal stability, surface chemical functional groups and microstructure of the titania slag before and after microwave heating, at a temperature of 950?°C for 60 min, were also analyzed using thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrum and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The TG-DSC analysis revealed that the phase transformation of the titania slag from anatase TiO₂ to rutile TiO₂ occurred between 750 and 1000 °C. The FT-IR rustles demonstrate that the banding form of Ti⁴⁺, Ti³⁺ and Ti²⁺ ions and the methyl groups on the surface of the titania slag has changed and a new chemical bond Ti–OH was formed. The results of SEM showed that a large number of regulation rutile TiO₂ crystals were found on the surface of the microwave-treated samples and the synthetic rutile has been synthesized successfully using microwave heating.     

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.     

表面修饰的二氧化钛纳米材料的结构相变和光吸收性质

采用胶体化学法制备表面修饰的二氧化钛纳米材料，并使用XRD，TEM，UV-vis光谱等手段研究表面修饰的二氧化钛纳米微粒的结构相变和光吸收性质.结果表明，表面修饰可以改变二氧化钛的晶化行为、加快锐钛矿→金红石的相变进程、引起二氧化钛纳米粒子的光吸收带边大幅度红移.光吸收系数与光子能量之间关系的计算分析显示，在吸收带边附近，二氧化钛纳米微粒溶胶及二氧化钛纳米薄膜的(αhν)^1/2vs hν(间接)和(αhν)² vs hν(直接)均呈线性关系，其间接和直接光学带隙能可以分别通过外推这种线性关系来测量. 关键词： 二氧化钛纳米材料 结构相变 表面改性 光吸收     

N,Co共掺杂锐钛矿相YiO2光催化剂的第一性原理研究

采用第一性原理平面波超软赝势方法研究了N,Co共掺杂锐钛矿相TiO2的微观结构和光学性质.结果表明:N,Co共掺杂后TiO2晶格中产生的偶极矩使光生电子-空穴对更有效地分离;在TiO2导带和价带之间形成了新的杂质能级,一方面使吸收带边红移到可见光区,光吸收性能明显增强,另一方面有利于光生电子-空穴对的分离,提高TiO2的光量子效率;与纯TiO2相比,N,Co共掺杂锐钛矿相TiO2带边的氧化还原势只有微小的变化,共掺杂后TiO2的强氧化还原能力得以保持.     

Photoluminescence studies of nitrogen-doped TiO2 powders prepared by annealing with urea

Photoluminescence and excitation spectra have been investigated for undoped and nitrogen-doped TiO₂ powders at low temperatures. A broad luminescence band peaking at 2.25?eV is observed in the undoped TiO₂ powders. The 2.25?eV luminescence band exhibits a sharp rise from 3.34?eV in the excitation spectrum reflecting the fundamental absorption edge of anatase TiO₂. On the other hand, the N-doped TiO₂ powders obtained by annealing with urea at 350 and 500°C exhibit broad luminescence bands around 2.89 and 2.63?eV, respectively. The excitation spectra for these luminescence bands rise from the lower energy side of the fundamental absorption edge of anatase TiO₂. The origin of the luminescence bands and N-related energy levels formed in the band-gap of TiO₂ are discussed.     

Synthesis of Titania-supported Copper Nanoparticles via Refined Alkoxide Sol-gel Process

Nanoparticles of titania and copper-loaded titania were synthesized by a refined sol-gel method using titanium butoxide. Unlike the conventional sol-gel procedure of adding water directly, the esterification of anhydrous butanol and glacial acetic acid provided the hydrolyzing water. In addition, acetic acid also served as a chelating ligand to stabilize the hydrolysis-condensation process and minimize the agglomeration of titania. Following the hydrolysis, Cu/TiO₂ was prepared by adding copper chloride to titania sol. The sol was dried, then calcined at 500^°C to remove organics and transformed to anatase titania which was verified by XRD. Cu/TiO₂ was further hydrogen-reduced at 300^°C. The recovery of Ti was exceeded by an average of 95% from titanium butoxide. TEM micrographs show that the Cu/TiO₂ particles are near uniform. The average crystallite sizes are 17–20 nm estimated from the peak broadening of XRD spectra. The bandgaps of TiO₂ and reduced Cu/TiO₂ range from 2.70 to 3.15 eV estimated from the diffusive reflective UV-Vis spectra. XPS analysis shows that Cu 2p_3/2 is 933.4 eV indicating primary Cu₂O form on the TiO₂ supports. The binding energy of Ti does not exhibit chemical shift suggesting negligible interaction of Cu cluster and TiO₂ support.     

Mn,N共掺杂对锐钛矿相TiO2微观结构和性能的影响

采用第一性原理平面波超软赝势方法,系统研究了Mn,N共掺杂对锐钛矿相TiO₂的晶体结构、缺陷形成能、电子结构、光学性质以及氧化还原能力的影响.研究表明:Mn,N共掺杂锐钛矿相TiO₂后,TiO₂晶格发生了畸变,导致晶体八面体偶极矩增加,有利于光生电子-空穴对的有效分离;在TiO₂带隙中出现了杂质能级,使锐钛矿相TiO₂的光学吸收带边红移,可见光区的吸收系数明显增大,有利于光催化效率的提高;在不考虑 关键词： 2')" href="#">锐钛矿相TiO₂ 第一性原理 Mn和N共掺杂 光催化性能     

P掺杂锐钛矿相TiO2的第一性原理计算

利用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理对不同P掺杂形式(P替位Ti, P替位O, 间隙P)的锐钛矿相TiO₂的晶格常数、电荷布居、能带结构、分态密度和吸收光谱进行了计算. 结果表明, P替位Ti时, TiO₂体积减小, P替位O和间隙P的存在使TiO₂的体积膨胀; 替位Ti的P和间隙P均有不同程度的氧化, 而替位O的P带有负电荷. 三种P掺杂形式均导致锐钛矿相TiO₂禁带宽度的增大, 并在TiO₂禁带之内引入了掺杂局域能级. P掺杂导致TiO₂禁带宽度增大的程度依次为: 间隙P>P替位Ti>P替位O. 吸收光谱的计算结果表明, P替位Ti并不能增强TiO₂的可见光吸收能力, 但间隙P的存在大幅提高了TiO₂的可见光光吸收能力, 间隙P有可能是造成实验上P掺杂增强锐钛矿相TiO₂光催化活性的重要原因. 关键词： P掺杂 2')" href="#">锐钛矿相TiO₂ 第一性原理     

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.     

Development of the IR laser pyrolysis for the synthesis of iron–doped TiO2 nanoparticles: Structural properties and photoactivity

The preparation of TiO₂-based nanoparticles of closely controlled sizes and purity gives rise to considerable interest in the frame of environmental applications, e.g. in photocatalysis. When nanoparticles instead of their bulk counterpart are used the synthesis method plays a fundamental role in defining specific structural properties. Between the different gas-phase synthesis techniques, the CO₂ laser pyrolysis is a versatile method allowing for the preparation of nanostructures of various chemical compositions. Here we demonstrate that pure and Fe–doped TiO₂ nanoparticles with rather low Fe concentration may be prepared by applying the sensitized IR laser pyrolysis to a gas mixtures containing titanium tetrachloride, air and iron pentacarbonyl (vapors). The structures of TiO₂-based particles were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Depending on the synthesis parameters, the nanoparticle system contains mixtures of anatase and rutile, with a preponderance of the anatase phase. Higher rutile proportion was found in the iron-doped samples. Mean particle diameters of around 14 nm and 12 nm were estimated for undoped and doped anatase titania, respectively. From UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra, higher absorbance and red shifted absorption were evidenced at higher amount of doped iron. Preliminary evaluation tests of the UV photoactivity of samples were performed by using the scanning electrochemical microscopy for determining the evolution of the oxygen consumption in the presence of IV-chlorophenol. They show that the undoped nano titania samples perform better than the reference P25 Degussa sample. A drop of the nano-titania photoactivity as a consequence of Fe doping was observed. Possible reasons of this effect are tentatively discussed.     

Symmetry and models of single-walled TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotubes with rectangular morphology

The formalism of line symmetry groups for one-periodic (1D) nanostructures with rotohelical symmetry has been applied for symmetry analysis of single-walled titania nanotubes (SW TiO₂ NTs) formed by rolling up the stoichiometric two-periodic (2D) slabs of anatase structure. Either six- or twelve-layer (101) slabs have been cut from TiO₂ crystal in a stable anatase phase. After structural optimization, the latter keeps the centered rectangular symmetry of initial slab slightly compressed along a direction coincided with large sides of elemental rectangles. We have considered two sets of SW TiO₂ NTs with optimized six- and twelve-layer structures, which possess chiralities (−n, n) and (n, n) of anatase nanotubes. To analyze the structural and electronic properties of titania slabs and nanotubes, we have performed their ab initio LCAO calculations, using the hybrid Hartree-Fock/Kohn-Sham exchange-correlation functional PBE0. The band gaps (Δɛ _gap ) and strain energies (E _strain ) of six-layer nanotubes have been computed and analyzed as functions of NT diameter (D _NT). As to models of 12-layer SW TiO₂ NTs of both chiralities, their optimization results in structural exfoliation, i.e., the multi-walled structure should be rather formed in nanotubes with such a number of atomic layers.     

锐钛矿相纳米TiO2晶体生长动力学及生长过程控制

研究了采用溶胶-凝胶法经由前驱物钛酸四异丙酯水解制备纳米TiO₂结构相变及锐钛矿晶体生长动力学过程. 研究结果表明,在酸性条件下水解,由于高压热处理温度的变化导致锐钛矿向金红石相的结构相变,锐钛矿相纳米TiO₂生长活化能在250℃以下和以上分别为(15.8±4.5)kJ/mol和(80.2±1.0)kJ/mol;而在碱性条件下水解的活化能值为(3.5±0.4)kJ/mol. 在不发生结构相变的条件下,酸性水解条件下锐钛矿相纳米TiO₂生长速 关键词： 2')" href="#">纳米TiO₂ 锐钛矿 生长动力学 溶胶-凝胶法     

Effect of annealing temperature on nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films prepared by sol–gel dip coating method

Nanocrystalline TiO₂ thin films have been prepared by sol–gel dip coating method. X-ray diffraction results showed the formation of anatase phase TiO₂ with grain size in the range of 18–26 nm. The HRTEM studies show that the average particle size of TiO₂ is 24 nm. The EDX analysis confirmed that Ti and O elements are present in the samples. The optical absorption spectra reveal that the absorption edge shifts towards longer wavelength side with increase in annealing temperature.     

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.