Optical near-field induced visible response photoelectrochemical water splitting on nanorod TiO{sub 2}

Journal Article · Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3663632· OSTI ID:22027820

Huong Le, Thu Hac; Mawatari, Kazuma; Pihosh, Yuriy; Kitamori, Takehiko ^[1]; Kawazoe, Tadashi; Yatsui, Takashi; Ohtsu, Motoichi ^[2]; Tosa, Masahiro ^[3]

---

1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)
2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan)
3. Micro-Nano Component Materials Group, Materials Engineering Laboratory, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Sengen 1-2-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan)

Here we report a way to induce the visible response of non-doped TiO{sub 2} in the photocatalytic electrochemical water splitting, which is achieved by utilizing the optical near-field (ONF) generated on nanorod TiO{sub 2}. The visible response is attributed to the ONF-induced phonon-assisted excitation process, in which TiO{sub 2} is excited by sub-bandgap photons via phonon energy. Our approach directly gets involved in the excitation process without chemical modification of materials; accordingly it is expected to have few drawbacks on the photocatalytic performance. This study may offer another perspective on the development of solar harvesting materials.

• OSTI ID: 22027820
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 21; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ENERGY GAP
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
MODIFICATIONS
NANOSTRUCTURES
PERFORMANCE
PHONONS
PHOTOCATALYSIS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHOTONS
THIN FILMS
TITANIUM OXIDES
ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA
VISIBLE SPECTRA
WATER