Strategies developed on the modification of titania for visible light response with enhanced interfacial charge transfer process: an overview

The modification of titania by metal / non metal ion doping, coupling with narrow band gap sensitizer, surface flourination, metal deposition, and together with recent ventures on application of {001} facets of anatase titania for visible light response with enhanced charge carrier separation are briefly overviewed.     

非金属元素掺杂纳米二氧化钛

二氧化钛在光电转化、光催化等众多领域具有重要的应用价值,但较宽的禁带宽度和较低的电子传递效率导致其光利用率较低.离子掺杂和纳米化是改变其能带结构、提高电子传输能力的有效策略,根据掺杂离子的性质,可分为金属离子掺杂和非金属元素掺杂.与传统二氧化钛相比,纳米二氧化钛具有特殊的表面效应和粒度效应,其化学活性、耐热性等都强于传...     

Photocatalytic mechanisms of modified titania under visible light

Heterogeneous photocatalysis with titania under visible light has increasingly been a focus for research. Metal or non-metal doping, surface sensitization, semiconductor coupling, precious metal deposition and increasing crystal defects have been used to enhance the photocatalytic activity of titania under visible light. Based on the research results of different modification methods in recent years, some mechanisms from the excitation, bulk diffusion and surface transfer of photoinduced charge carriers, such as band gap modification, changing the excitation path, promoting the separation of photogenerated charge carrier, improving the surface adsorption and reaction, and synergistic effects, for photocatalysis under visible light are discussed and the development trend in this field is predicted.     

非金属掺杂改性TiO_2光催化剂的机理

为了扩展TiO2光催化剂对可见光的利用,以非金属元素对其进行掺杂和改性是近年来很活跃的研究内容,文献报道主要有氮、碳、硫、氟等非金属元素的改性结果。各种不同的改性方法如高温气氛还原、脉冲激光沉积、离子溅射、机械化学、溶液湿法等都可以得到非金属元素改性。本文重点探讨了氮改性TiO2光催化剂的结果,氮改性TiO2的方法和改性机理,讨论了氮改性TiO2的结构及其对可见光的利用机理等,对碳、硫、氟等元素掺杂改性也作了简要介绍。     

TiO2光催化剂可见光化研究进展

TiO2在光催化和光电转换方面应用前景十分广阔,而阻碍其应用的是它的大禁带宽度(E_g=3.2_eV),不能有效地利用太阳能,因此研究开发可见光响应的TiO₂就成为当前光催化剂研究的关键课题.目前TiO₂可见光化的研究取得了一定进展,金属离子掺杂、非金属离子掺杂、离子注入以及染料光敏化等方法都不同程度地实现了TiO₂可见光化.本文综述了目前的研究现状,并对今后的研究提出了展望.     

S-, N- and C-doped titanium dioxide nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization and redox charge transfer study

Herein we report on the synthesis and characterization of TiO₂ nanomaterials doped with anions like sulfur, carbon and nitrogen. Upon doping, the absorption extends well into the visible region. This shift in the absorption edge is accompanied by a concomitant narrowing of band gap. The resulting anion-doped TiO₂ nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, XPS, elemental analysis, EDAX, TEM, UV-DRS, DC conductivity, AC impedance and cyclic voltammetric studies. XPS confirms the presence of the dopants and the elemental analysis determined the amount of dopants in TiO₂. Electrochemical characterization was carried out by cyclic voltammetry at pHs 2, 6.5 and 10. As against the response of undoped TiO₂, the doped samples show an active electrochemical response indicating an induced charge transfer across the titania/solution interface, thus forming two anodic peaks and a cathodic peak. This interesting and significant observation was understood in terms of band bending due to anion doping as well as to the pH changes in the experimental solutions.     

Mesoporous oxide junctions and nanostructured solar cells

Mesoporous films of wide-band gap semiconductor oxides are an important new class of electronic materials. They are constituted by a network of nanocrystalline particles of oxides, such as titania, niobia or zinc oxide, sintered together to allow for charge carrier transport to take place. The pores between the nanoparticles are filled with an electrolyte or a solid state organic hole conductor forming an interpenetrating heterojunction of very large contact area. These junctions exhibit extraordinary opto-electronic properties due to their large surface area to volume ratio leading to applications in different domains, such as photovoltaics, intercalation batteries, electrochromic and electroluminescent displays, photocatalysis and chemical sensors. Of particular interest are dye-sensitized heterojunctions, where photo-induced charge separation occurs at the interface between the mesoporous oxide and the hole conductor or the electrolyte. Photovoltaic cells based on this concept form a viable alternative to conventional silicon cells. Solar to electric power conversion efficiencies exceeding 10% have been reached with mesoporous titania films derivatized with molecular charge transfer sensitizers and used in conjunction with organic iodide/triiodide-based redox electrolytes. Long-term accelerated light-soaking tests have shown the system to be intrinsically stable. This article summarized recent developments in this field including a discussion of solid state dye-sensitized heterojunctions employing spirobifluorene-connected arylamines as hole transport materials.     

表面电荷转移掺杂石墨烯的研究进展

表面电荷转移掺杂是调制石墨烯电学特性的重要手段。发展高效、稳定的表面电荷转移掺杂剂对于提高石墨烯的电学和光电性能、从而推动其在电子和光电领域中的应用具有重要意义。本文围绕高效与稳定两个方面综述了近年来石墨烯表面电荷转移掺杂剂的研究现状以及掺杂石墨烯在光电器件应用方面的进展。根据掺杂剂的类型，着重介绍了最新发展的高效p型和n型掺杂剂，并概述了稳定掺杂方面的重要研究工作。此外，专门介绍了基于掺杂石墨烯透明电极的高性能光电器件。最后，根据表面电荷转移掺杂研究面临的主要挑战，对其未来的发展方向进行了展望。     

A Shifted Double‐Diamond Titania Scaffold

Photonic crystals are expected to be metamaterials because of their potential to control the propagation of light in the linear and nonlinear regimes. Biological single‐network, triply periodic constant mean curvature surface structures are considered excellent candidates owing to their large complete band gap. However, the chemical construction of these relevant structures is rare and developing new structures from thermodynamically stable double‐network self‐organizing systems is challenging. Herein, we reveal that the shifted double‐diamond titania scaffold can achieve a complete band gap. The largest (7.71 %) band gap is theoretically obtained by shifting 0.332 c with the dielectric contrast of titania (6.25). A titania scaffold with similar shifted double‐diamond structure was fabricated using a reverse core–shell microphase‐templating system with an amphiphilic diblock copolymer and a titania source in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and water, which could result in a 2.05–3.78 % gap.     

A Shifted Double-Diamond Titania Scaffold

Photonic crystals are expected to be metamaterials because of their potential to control the propagation of light in the linear and nonlinear regimes. Biological single-network, triply periodic constant mean curvature surface structures are considered excellent candidates owing to their large complete band gap. However, the chemical construction of these relevant structures is rare and developing new structures from thermodynamically stable double-network self-organizing systems is challenging. Herein, we reveal that the shifted double-diamond titania scaffold can achieve a complete band gap. The largest (7.71 %) band gap is theoretically obtained by shifting 0.332 c with the dielectric contrast of titania (6.25). A titania scaffold with similar shifted double-diamond structure was fabricated using a reverse core–shell microphase-templating system with an amphiphilic diblock copolymer and a titania source in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and water, which could result in a 2.05–3.78 % gap.     

Visible light responsive TiO2 modification with nonmetal elements

Developing visible light responsive (VLR) TiO₂ photocatalysts is essential and attractive for the consideration of solar energy utilization. A large amount of work have shown TiO₂ modified with several nonmetal elements having VLR performance, although according to DFT calculation, Asahi denied the VLR properties of fluorine, carbon, etc. in doping TiO₂. Therefore, the origins of VLR activity desire further delicate discussion. In this mini-review, several strategies for VLR TiO₂ modification have been introduced, including N doping or B/N codoping, surface modification with sensitizing matter such as carbonaceous or other organic substances, surface alkoxyls modification via a ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) process, and enhanced dye sensitization by fluorine modification. Besides doping, there are much more approaches to fabricate VLR TiO₂ modified with nonmetal elements. However, it is still in demand to explore new methods to obtain more stable and efficient VLR TiO₂ for practical application.     

Electronic Properties of Transition and Alkaline Earth Metal Doped CuS: A DFT Study

CuS is a unique semiconductor with potential in optoelectronics. Its unusual electronic structure, including a partially occupied valence band, and complex crystal structure with an S−S bond offer unique opportunities and potential applications. In this work, the use of doping to optimize the properties of CuS for various applications is investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Among the dopants studied, Ni, Zn, and Mg may be the most practical due to their lower formation energies. Doping with Fe, Ni, or Ca induces significant distortion, which may be beneficial for achieving materials with high surface areas and active states. Significantly, doping alters the conductor-like behavior of CuS, opening a band gap by increasing bond ionicity and reducing the S−S bond covalency. Thus, doping CuS can tune the plasmonic properties and transform it from a conductor to an intrinsic fluorescent semiconductor. Ni and Fe doping give the lowest band gaps (0.35 eV and 0.39 eV, respectively), while Mg doping gives the highest (0.86 eV). Doping with Mg, Ca, and Zn may enhance electron mobility and charge separation. Most dopants increase the anisotropy of electron-to-hole mass ratios, enabling device design that exploits directional-dependence for improved performance.     

Influences of Acid on Molecular Forms of Fluorescein and Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Fluorescein‐Dispersing Sol–Gel Titania Films

Fluorescein‐dispersing titania gel films were prepared by the acid‐catalyzed sol–gel reaction using a titanium alkoxide solution containing fluorescein. The molecular forms of fluorescein in the films, depending on its acid–base equilibria, and the complex formation and photoinduced electron transfer process between the dye and titania surface were investigated by fluorescence and photoelectric measurements. The titanium species were coordinated to the carboxylate and phenolate‐like groups of the fluorescein species. The quantum efficiencies of the fluorescence quenching and photoelectric conversion were higher upon excitation of the dianion species interacting with the titania, i.e. the dye–titania complex. This result indicated that the dianion form was the most favorable for formation of the dye–titania complex exhibiting the highest electron transfer efficiency. Using nitric acid as the catalyst, the titania surface bonded to the fluorescein instead of the adsorbed nitrate ion during the steam treatment. The dye–titania complex formation played an important role in the electron injection from the dye to the titania conduction band.     

Regulating Charge Transfer of Lattice Oxygen in Single‐Atom‐Doped Titania for Hydrogen Evolution

Single‐atom catalysts have attracted much attention. Reported herein is that regulating charge transfer of lattice oxygen atoms in serial single‐atom‐doped titania enables tunable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. First‐principles calculations disclose that the activity of lattice oxygen for the HER can be regularly promoted by substituting its nearest metal atom, and doping‐induced charge transfer plays an essential role. Besides, the realm of the charge transfer of the active site can be enlarged to the second nearest atom by creating oxygen vacancies, resulting in further optimization for the HER. Various single‐atom‐doped titania nanosheets were fabricated to validate the proposed model. Taking advantage of the localized charge transfer to the lattice atom is demonstrated to be feasible for realizing precise regulation of the electronic structures and thus catalytic activity of the nanosheets.     

The effect of group IIIA metal ion dopants on the photocatalytic activities of nanocrystalline Sr0.25H1.5Ta2O6·H2O

A series of group IIIA metal ion electron acceptors doped into Sr(0.25)H(1.5)Ta(2)O(6)·H(2)O (HST) samples have been prepared by an impregnation and calcination method for the first time. The samples are characterized by XRD, TEM, DRS and XPS. The variations in the electronic structure and photoelectric response after metal ion doping are investigated by theoretical calculations and photocurrent experiments, respectively. Results show that the metal ions can be efficiently incorporated into the HST crystal structure, which is reflected in the lattice contraction. Meanwhile, the photoabsorption edges of the metal-doped HST samples are red shifted to a longer wavelength. Taking into account the ionic radii and electronegativities of the dopants, as well as the XRD and XPS results, it is concluded that Ta(5+) ions may be partially substituted by the Al(3+) and Ga(3+) ions in the framework, while In(3+) ions are the favourable substitutes for Sr(2+) sites in the cavity. The first-principles DFT calculations confirm that the variation of the band structure is sensitive to the type of group IIIA metal ion. Introducing the dopant only at the Ta site induces an obvious variation in the band structure and the band gap becomes narrow. Meanwhile, an 'extra step' appeared in the band gap, which can trap photogenerated electrons from the valance band (VB) and could enhance the charge mobility and the photocurrent. For the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in an aqueous solution and in benzene in the gas phase, the doped samples show superior photocatalytic activities compared with both undoped samples and TiO(2). The enhanced photocatalytic activities can be well explained by their electronic structure, photoabsorption performance, photoelectric response, and the concentration of the active species. Due to the fact that Ga ion doping can create an acceptor impurity level and change the electronic band, efficiently narrowing the band gap, the Ga-doped sample shows the highest photocatalytic activity.     

二维氧化钛纳米页

单层氧化钛纳米页(titania nanosheets)是一种厚度仅为0.7 nm的新型二维纳米材料,具有许多不同于块体氧化钛的优异性质,如:高各向异性、单晶性质、胶体和聚电解质特性、大比表面积、高表面能和量子尺寸效应等。在光电转换、磁光效应、高介电常数器件、电化学能量储存、湿敏传感器、自清洁和光催化等领域极具应用前景。本文首先总结了氧化钛纳米页的基本性能,如:光吸收性能、光致发光性能、光电化学性能、光诱导亲水性能和晶相转变温度差异等,概述了氧化钛纳米页的制备及组装方法,接着分别以薄膜片、纳米管、中空微球、超薄多层复合薄膜为代表,介绍了氧化钛纳米页组装得到的新型材料及其特点,然后介绍了氧化钛纳米页的掺杂改性,从拓宽光吸收带边、提高电子迁移速率和提高磁光效应三个角度,归纳总结了离子掺杂与氧化钛纳米页性能之间的关系,最后对氧化钛纳米页未来的研究发展趋势提出了展望。     

Surface transfer doping of hydrogen-terminated diamond by C60F48: energy level scheme and doping efficiency

Surface sensitive C1s core level photoelectron spectroscopy was used to examine the electronic properties of C(60)F(48) molecules on the C(100):H surface. An upward band bending of 0.74 eV in response to surface transfer doping by fluorofullerene molecules is measured. Two distinct molecular charge states of C(60)F(48) are identified and their relative concentration determined as a function of coverage. One corresponds to ionized molecules that participate in surface charge transfer and the other to neutral molecules that do not. The position of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of neutral C(60)F(48) which is the relevant acceptor level for transfer doping lies initially 0.6 eV below the valence band maximum and shifts upwards in the course of transfer doping by up to 0.43 eV due to a doping induced surface dipole. This upward shift in conjunction with the band bending determines the occupation of the acceptor level and limits the ultimately achievable hole concentration with C(60)F(48) as a surface acceptor to values close to 10(13) cm(-2) as reported in the literature.     

Retention of β blockers on native titania stationary phase

In recent years, metal oxides such as titania have been commercially available as chromatographic beds that can potentially be used to achieve novel separations of polar compounds. For example β blockers, which are more often encountered in environmental sciences, have a wide range of polarity, and their basic character leads to difficult sample treatment and separation on conventional silica‐based sorbents. The contribution of titania to the selective analysis of nine β blockers was evaluated in terms of retention mechanisms observed in hydrophilic interaction LC using acetonitrile/water mobile phases with various additives. The mobile phase additives enabled to control the β blocker charge as well as the titania surface charge. Depending on their respective ionic state, various retention mechanisms were identified at low water contents (<40%), including mainly adsorption mixed with hydrophilic interaction LC partition, ion exchange and ion exclusion. An unexpected retention was also observed for high water content and high pH, changing the selectivity of the support.     

Effect of microstructure of nitrogen-doped graphene on oxygen reduction activity in fuel cells

The development of fuel cells as clean-energy technologies is largely limited by the prohibitive cost of the noble-metal catalysts needed for catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. A fundamental understanding of catalyst design principle that links material structures to the catalytic activity can accelerate the search for highly active and abundant nonmetal catalysts to replace platinum. Here, we present a first-principles study of ORR on nitrogen-doped graphene in acidic environment. We demonstrate that the ORR activity primarily correlates to charge and spin densities of the graphene. The nitrogen doping and defects introduce high positive spin and/or charge densities that facilitate the ORR on graphene surface. The identified active sites are closely related to doping cluster size and dopant-defect interactions. Generally speaking, a large doping cluster size (number of N atoms >2) reduces the number of catalytic active sites per N atom. In combination with N clustering, Stone-Wales defects can strongly promote ORR. For four-electron transfer, the effective reversible potential ranges from 1.04 to 1.15 V/SHE, depending on the defects and cluster size. The catalytic properties of graphene could be optimized by introducing small N clusters in combination with material defects.     

Low‐Temperature Route to Crystalline Titania Network Structures in Thin Films

A low temperature route to crystalline titania nanostructures in thin films is presented. The synthesis is performed by the combination of sol‐gel processes, using a novel precursor for this kind of application, an ethylene glycol‐modified titanate (EGMT), and the structure templating by micro‐phase separation of a di‐block copolymer. Different temperatures around 100 °C are investigated. The nanostructure morphology is examined with scanning electron microscopy, whereas the crystal structure and thin film compositions are examined by scattering methods. Optoelectronic measurements reveal the band‐gap energies and sub‐band states of the titania films. An optimum titania thin film is created at temperatures not higher than 90 °C, regarding sponge‐like morphology with pore sizes of 25–30 nm, porosity of up to 71 % near the sample surface, and crystallinity of titania in the rutile phase. The low temperature during synthesis is of high importance for photovoltaic applications and renders the resulting titania films interesting for future energy solutions.