Sub-10 nm rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticles for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Landong Li, Junqing Yan, Tuo Wang, Zhi-Jian Zhao, Jian Zhang, Jinlong Gong () and Naijia Guan
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Landong Li: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering
Junqing Yan: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering
Tuo Wang: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering
Zhi-Jian Zhao: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering
Jian Zhang: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, Ningbo 315201, China
Jinlong Gong: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering
Naijia Guan: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Titanium dioxide is a promising photocatalyst for water splitting, but it suffers from low visible light activity due to its wide band gap. Doping can narrow the band gap of titanium dioxide; however, new charge-carrier recombination centres may be introduced. Here we report the design of sub-10 nm rutile titanium dioxide nanoparticles, with an increased amount of surface/sub-surface defects to overcome the negative effects from bulk defects. Abundant defects can not only shift the top of the valence band of rutile titanium dioxide upwards for band-gap narrowing but also promote charge-carrier separation. The role of titanium(III) is to enhance, rather than initiate, the visible-light-driven water splitting. The sub-10 nm rutile nanoparticles exhibit the state-of-the-art activity among titanium dioxide-based semiconductors for visible-light-driven water splitting and the concept of ultra-small nanoparticles with abundant defects may be extended to the design of other robust semiconductor photocatalysts.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6881

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