Low-temperature sol–gel synthesis photochromic Cu/TiO2 films

Photo and Chemical Reduction of Copper onto Anatase‐Type TiO2 Nanoparticles with Enhanced Surface Hydroxyl Groups as Efficient Visible Light Photocatalysts

“…When a noble metal is deposited onto TiO 2 , Schottky barriers will form at the junctions and the metal species will act as electron reservoirs to trap electrons and this can greatly extend the lifetime of electron–hole pairs and hence the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO 2 . It has been reported that copper metal can be one of the best candidates for deposition onto TiO 2 catalyst as an efficient electron trapper .…”

Low-temperature sol–gel synthesis of crystalline materials

“…Indeed, "re-dissolving" in HNO 3 the XRD amorphous precipitate from the hydrolysis of titanium alkoxides provides a stable sol consisting of uniform anatase nanoparticles. 24,[30][31][32][33] Among other ways of activating the crystallization (not the least important, and gaining popularity at present) are external physical factors (ultrasound, microwaves, UV) under atmospheric pressure. 26,35 The general mechanisms for the effects of a medium's pH and external physical factors on the growth of crystalline phase are considered below.…”

“…The most pronounced photocatalytic effect was attained upon doping the anatase crystal lattice with more than 7 at.% and less than 13 at.% of iron. It has been shown that excessive dopants can act as recombination centers, 32 promoting the recombination of electron-hole pairs and increasing semiconductor properties. These results imply a high potential for application in the utilization of solar light, with the absence of an annealing stage for preserving functional characteristics of materials allowing the coating of a photocatalytically active layer of the Fe-TiO 2 nanoparticles on nished surfaces, including those possessing low thermal stability.…”

Roles of Cu concentration in the photocatalytic activities of Cu-doped TiO 2 from GGA+ U calculations

“…Cu-doped TiO 2 have been demonstrated to have high photocatalytic efficiency. This is mainly due to the fact that Cu doping can reduce the band gap of TiO 2 to an appropriate value for hydrogen generation through PEC water splitting [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, the microscopic understanding of the enhanced photocatalytic activities of Cu-doped TiO 2 is limited, as compared to the investigations of other TM-doped TiO 2 .…”