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Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag microgrid connected TiO{sub 2} nanocrystalline films

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2715477· OSTI ID:20960164
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Center of Materials Physics and Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100083 (China)

One reason for the high degree of photogenerated carrier recombination was found to be the charge accumulation caused by the uneven reaction area on the photocatalyst surface. The authors connected TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles with conducting Ag microgrid. Obvious photocatalytic activity improvement (81%) over the pure TiO{sub 2} was observed, which is attributed to the electron-hole pairs separation by the metal-semiconductor contact and the large specific area of metal grid, which increased the O{sub 2} absorption and transported the electrons to the sites needed for the deoxidize reactions. This structure lowers the electron accumulation on the particles and improves the utilization ratio of the photoexcited carriers.

OSTI ID:
20960164
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 90; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English