title: Remarkable Charge Separation and Photocatalytic Efficiency Enhancement through Interconnection of TiO2 Nanoparticles by Hydrothermal Treatment.
abstract: Although tremendous effort has been directed to synthesizing advanced TiO2 , it remains difficult to obtain TiO2 exhibiting a photocatalytic efficiency higher than that of P25, a benchmark photocatalyst. P25 is composed of anatase, rutile, and amorphous TiO2 particles, and photoexcited electron transfer and subsequent charge separation at the anatase-rutile particle interfaces explain its high photocatalytic efficiency. Herein, we report on a facile and rational hydrothermal treatment of P25 to selectively convert the amorphous component into crystalline TiO2 , which is deposited between the original anatase and rutile particles to increase the particle interfaces and thus enhance charge separation. This process produces a new TiO2 exhibiting a considerably enhanced photocatalytic efficiency. This method of synthesizing this TiO2 , inspired by a recently burgeoning zeolite design, promises to make TiO2 applications more feasible and effective.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan. IDE.Yusuke@nims.go.jp.|Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8050, Japan. IDE.Yusuke@nims.go.jp.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ide
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8050, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inami
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Applied Chemistry, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8050, Japan.
authors.forename: Kanji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8050, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sohmiya
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Applied Chemistry, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
authors.forename: Nao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsunoji
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Applied Chemistry, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komaguchi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Applied Chemistry, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuneji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Golberg
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8050, Japan. ys6546@waseda.jp.|Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan. ys6546@waseda.jp.|Kagami Memorial Research Institute for Materials Science and Technology, Waseda University, 2-8-26 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-0051, Japan. ys6546@waseda.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugahara
keywords: charge separation; dye-sensitized solar cell; photocatalysis; titanium dioxide; zeolite