Highly Active Rutile TiO2 Nanocrystalline Photocatalysts

Veljko R Djokić; Aleksandar D Marinković; Rada D Petrović; Ovidiu Ersen; Spyridon Zafeiratos; Miodrag Mitrić; Colin Ophus; Velimir R Radmilović; Djordje T Janaćković

doi:10.1021/acsami.0c03150

Highly Active Rutile TiO₂ Nanocrystalline Photocatalysts

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Jul 22;12(29):33058-33068. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c03150. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Authors

Veljko R Djokić¹, Aleksandar D Marinković¹, Rada D Petrović¹, Ovidiu Ersen², Spyridon Zafeiratos³, Miodrag Mitrić⁴, Colin Ophus⁵, Velimir R Radmilović^{1

6}, Djordje T Janaćković¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11120 Belgrade, Serbia.
² Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS), UMR CNRS-Université de Strasbourg 7504, 23, rue du Loess, BP 43, F-67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France.
³ Institut de Chimie et Procédés pour l'Energie, l'Environnement et la Sante (ICPEES), ECPM, UMR 7515 du CNRS, Strasbourg University, 25 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.
⁴ Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, Vinča Institute, University of Belgrade, P.O. Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia.
⁵ NCEM, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
⁶ Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Knez Mihailova 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.

PMID: 32602695
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c03150

Abstract

The controllable synthesis of rutile TiO₂ single crystal particles with the preferential orientation of {111} facets still remains a scientific and technological challenge. Here, we developed a facile route for fabrication of rutile TiO₂ nanorod crystals (RTiO₂NRs) having high ratios of oxidative {111} to reductive {110} surfaces. RTiO₂NRs were synthesized using a peroxo-titanium complex (PTC) approach, which was controlled by changing the Ti/H₂O₂ ratio. The thus obtained RTiO₂NRs revealed a high tendency to agglomerate through orientation-dependent attachment along the {110} facets. This resulted in an increased {111}/{110} surface ratio and led to a markedly improved photocatalytic activity of RTiO₂NR aggregates. The reported findings illustrate the rich potential of the herein proposed facile and energy-efficient synthesis of nanostructured rutile TiO₂-based photocatalysts.

Keywords: Orientation-dependent attachment; Photocatalysis; Rutile nanorods; Self-assembly; TiO2.