title: Axis-oriented, continuous anatase titania films with exposed reactive {100} facets.
abstract: Homogeneous TiO2 single crystals with high exposure of {100} reactive facets were constructed as a seed monolayer on transparent conductive substrates with the desired orientation of reactive facets. A secondary growth process was subsequently carried out on the monolayer seed film to form an axis-oriented continuous reactive film. Performing secondary growth with different precursors led to optimized conditions for high-performance photoelectrochemical activity of anatase TiO2 films. Experimental techniques such as UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution SEM, and photoelectrochemistry were used to characterize the structural, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties of the as-synthesized films. As a photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell, the axis-oriented reactive film shows a maximum photocurrent density of 0.3 mA cm(-2), as opposed to 0.075 mA cm(-2) for non-axis-oriented (randomly oriented) TiO2 film.
authors.affiliation: Korea Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, Department of Chemistry, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Thanh-Khue
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Van
authors.forename: Cuong Ky
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kang
keywords: crystal growth; electrochemistry; nanoparticles; photochemistry; thin films