Evidence and Effect of Photogenerated Charge Transfer for Enhanced Photocatalysis in WO3/TiO2 Heterojunction Films: A Computational and Experimental Study
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Semiconductor heterojunctions are used in a wide range of applications including catalysis, sensors, and solar-to-chemical energy conversion devices. These materials can spatially separate photogenerated charge across the heterojunction boundary, inhibiting recombination processes and synergistically enhancing their performance beyond the individual components. In this work, the WO3/TiO2 heterojunction grown by chemical vapor deposition is investigated. This consists of a highly nanostructured WO3 layer of vertically aligned nanorods that is then coated with a conformal layer of TiO2. This heterojunction shows an unusual electron transfer process, where photogenerated electrons move from the WO3 layer into TiO2. State-of-the-art hybrid density functional theory and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to elucidate the electronic interaction at the WO3/TiO2 interface. Transient absorption spectroscopy shows that recombination is substantially reduced, extending both the lifetime and population of photogenerated charges into timescales relevant to most photocatalytic processes. This increases the photocatalytic efficiency of the material, which is among the highest ever reported for a thin film. In allying computational and experimental methods, this is believed to be an ideal strategy for determining the band alignment in metal oxide heterojunction systems.
Date Issued
2017-03-24
Date Acceptance
2017-01-24
Citation
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, 2017, 27 (18)
ISSN
1616-301X
Publisher
WILEY
Journal / Book Title
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
Volume
27
Issue
18
Copyright Statement
© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This is the accepted version of the following article: C. Sotelo-Vazquez, R. Quesada-Cabrera, M. Ling, D. O. Scanlon, A. Kafizas, P. K. Thakur, T.-L. Lee, A. Taylor, G. W. Watson, R. G. Palgrave, J. R. Durrant, C. S. Blackman, I. P. Parkin, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1605413, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201605413
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000400819700002&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
291482
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry, Physical
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Chemistry
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
Physics
TRANSIENT ABSORPTION-SPECTROSCOPY
INITIO MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS
CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION
TOTAL-ENERGY CALCULATIONS
WAVE BASIS-SET
THIN-FILMS
CARRIER DYNAMICS
TIO2
WATER
WO3
Materials
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
02 Physical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 1605413