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Nunzi F, De Angelis F. Modeling titanium dioxide nanostructures for photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Chem Sci 2022; 13:9485-9497. [PMID: 36091912 PMCID: PMC9400622 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc02872g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Heterogenous photocatalysis is regarded as a holy grail in relation to the energy and environmental issues with which our society is currently struggling. In this context, the characterization of titanium dioxide nanostructures and the relationships between structural/electronic parameters and chemical/physical–chemical properties is a primary target, whose achievement is in high demand. Theoretical simulations can strongly support experiments to reach this goal. While the bulk and surface properties of TiO2 materials are quite well understood, the field of nanostructures still presents a few unexplored areas. Here we consider possible approaches for the modeling of reduced and extended TiO2 nanostructures, and we review the main outcomes of the investigation of the structural, electronic, and optical properties of TiO2 nanoparticles and their relationships with the size, morphology, and shape of the particles. Further investigations are highly desired to fill the gaps still remaining and to allow improvements in the efficiencies of these materials for photocatalytic and photovoltaic applications. The latest findings from theoretical investigations into TiO2 nanoparticles are reviewed, including both realistic models from a bottom-up approach (1–3 nm diameter) and cut from bulk models (>3 nm diameter) in a top-down approach.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Nunzi
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia Via Elce di Sotto 8 06123 Perugia Italy
- Computational Laboratory for Hybrid/Organic Photovoltaics (CLHYO), Istituto CNR di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche (SCITEC-CNR) Via Elce di Sotto 8 06123 Perugia Italy
| | - Filippo De Angelis
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia Via Elce di Sotto 8 06123 Perugia Italy
- Computational Laboratory for Hybrid/Organic Photovoltaics (CLHYO), Istituto CNR di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche (SCITEC-CNR) Via Elce di Sotto 8 06123 Perugia Italy
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, College of Sciences and Human Studies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University Khobar Dhahran 34754 Saudi Arabia
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2
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Adsorption of NO2 and subsequent formation of nitrate species in the dark on TiO2 nanoparticles exhibiting different morphologies: An in-situ FTIR study. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.127058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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3
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Zhou X, Dong H. A Theoretical Perspective on Charge Separation and Transfer in Metal Oxide Photocatalysts for Water Splitting. ChemCatChem 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201900567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhou
- College of Environment and Chemical EngineeringDalian University No. 10 Xuefu Street Dalian Economic Technological Development Zone Dalian 116622, Liaoning P.R. China
| | - Hao Dong
- School of Chemistry and Chemical EngineeringLiaoning Normal University No. 850 Huanghe Road Shahekou District Dalian 116029, Liaoning P.R. China
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Morales-García Á, Macià Escatllar A, Illas F, Bromley ST. Understanding the interplay between size, morphology and energy gap in photoactive TiO 2 nanoparticles. NANOSCALE 2019; 11:9032-9041. [PMID: 31021336 DOI: 10.1039/c9nr00812h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) have the potential to photocatalyse water splitting using UV light, to thus provide hydrogen fuel in a clean and sustainable manner. Such NPs have optical gaps covering a small range of relatively high energy solar photons, giving rise to low photo-efficiencies. Although anatase NPs with 10-20 nm diameters thermodynamically prefer crystalline faceted morphologies, application of physico-chemical procedures can produce more rounded NPs with amorphous shells. Such engineered metastable core-shell NPs (so-called black TiO2 NPs) have reduced band gaps due to shell-induced band edge broadening, resulting in higher photoactivities. For <5 nm diameters, TiO2 NPs typically exhibit spherical-like NP morphologies, which also display enhanced photoactivity. For smaller NPs it is difficult to experimentally determine their thermodynamic stability and internal atomic structure, to help rationalise their higher photoactivities. Employing accurate electronic structure calculations, we establish the relative stability of spherical and faceted stoichiometric TiO2 NPs with 1-3.4 nm diameters. Mirroring experimental preparation, simulated thermal annealing is found to significantly stabilise relaxed spherical cut anatase NPs. We find that the smallest spherical NPs become amorphized by annealing, but, for diameters >2 nm, annealing yields NPs with anatase-cores and amorphous-shells. Like larger black TiO2 core-shell NPs, we confirm that our core-shell NPs are metastable relative to faceted anatase NPs and have significantly smaller optical gaps than faceted NPs. Our calculated gaps are in excellent agreement with experimental data, strongly supporting the validity of our NP models. Energy gap narrowing in these core-shell NPs is found to be due to broadening of valence band states induced by the amorphous shell, analogous to the mechanism proposed for black TiO2 NPs. Our stoichiometric NPs also show that this band narrowing effect does not require the disordered shells to be non-stoichiometric or for incorporation of other atom types. Instead, we find that this effect mainly arises from 4-coordinated Ti atoms in the amorphous shell. Our careful and systematic computational investigation, using NP models of unprecedented realism, thus provides direct confirmation that the enhanced photoactivity in small spherical TiO2 NP observed in experiment is due to the formation of metastable core-shell NPs with 4-coordinated Ti centres.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ángel Morales-García
- Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, c/Martí i Franquès 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
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5
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Yoon S, Oh K, Liu F, Seo JH, Somorjai GA, Lee JH, An K. Specific Metal–Support Interactions between Nanoparticle Layers for Catalysts with Enhanced Methanol Oxidation Activity. ACS Catal 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.8b00276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sinmyung Yoon
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyunghwan Oh
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Fudong Liu
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Chemical Sciences and Materials Sciences Divisions, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Ji Hui Seo
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Gabor A. Somorjai
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Chemical Sciences and Materials Sciences Divisions, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Jun Hee Lee
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Kwangjin An
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
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6
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Using Density Functional Theory to Model Realistic TiO2 Nanoparticles, Their Photoactivation and Interaction with Water. Catalysts 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/catal7120357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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7
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Xu L, Sewvandi GA, Uemura S, Kusunose T, Nakanishi S, Feng Q. Facile size-controllable synthesis process, bandgap blue shift, and enhanced photocatalytic performances of [111]-faceted anatase TiO2 nanocrystals. NEW J CHEM 2017. [DOI: 10.1039/c7nj02143g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The blue shift of TiO2 nanocrystals is dependent on the facet exposed on the surface, increasing in the order of non-facet < [111]-facet < {010}-facet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linfeng Xu
- Department of Advanced Materials Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Kagawa University
- Takamatsu 761-0396
- Japan
| | - Galhenage A. Sewvandi
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- Faculty of Engineering
- University of Moratuwa
- Katubedda
- Sri Lanka
| | - Shinobu Uemura
- Department of Advanced Materials Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Kagawa University
- Takamatsu 761-0396
- Japan
| | - Takafumi Kusunose
- Department of Advanced Materials Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Kagawa University
- Takamatsu 761-0396
- Japan
| | - Shunsuke Nakanishi
- Department of Advanced Materials Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Kagawa University
- Takamatsu 761-0396
- Japan
| | - Qi Feng
- Department of Advanced Materials Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Kagawa University
- Takamatsu 761-0396
- Japan
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8
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Zigler DF, Morseth ZA, Wang L, Ashford DL, Brennaman MK, Grumstrup EM, Brigham EC, Gish MK, Dillon RJ, Alibabaei L, Meyer GJ, Meyer TJ, Papanikolas JM. Disentangling the Physical Processes Responsible for the Kinetic Complexity in Interfacial Electron Transfer of Excited Ru(II) Polypyridyl Dyes on TiO2. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:4426-38. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b12996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David F. Zigler
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Zachary A. Morseth
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Li Wang
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Dennis L. Ashford
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - M. Kyle Brennaman
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Erik M. Grumstrup
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Erinn C. Brigham
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Melissa K. Gish
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Robert J. Dillon
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Leila Alibabaei
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Gerald J. Meyer
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Thomas J. Meyer
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - John M. Papanikolas
- Caudill, Kenan, and Murray
Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus
Box 3290, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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9
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Zhang T, Su J, Guo L. Hierarchical architecture of WO3nanosheets by self-assembly of nanorods for photoelectrochemical applications. CrystEngComm 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c5ce01484k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A self-assembled WO3nanorod–nanosheet hierarchical architecture was deposited on FTO by a simple solvothermal growth route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Zhang
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy
- State Key Laboratory for Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering
- Xi'an Jiaotong University
- Xi'an 710049, PR China
| | - Jinzhan Su
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy
- State Key Laboratory for Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering
- Xi'an Jiaotong University
- Xi'an 710049, PR China
| | - Liejin Guo
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy
- State Key Laboratory for Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering
- Xi'an Jiaotong University
- Xi'an 710049, PR China
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Hua X, Liu Z, Bruce PG, Grey CP. The Morphology of TiO2 (B) Nanoparticles. J Am Chem Soc 2015; 137:13612-23. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b08434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Hua
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
| | - Zheng Liu
- School
of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, United Kingdom
| | - Peter G. Bruce
- Department
of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom
| | - Clare P. Grey
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
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11
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Du YE, Du D, Feng Q, Yang X. Delithation, Exfoliation, and Transformation of Rock-Salt-Structured Li2TiO3 to Highly Exposed {010}-Faceted Anatase. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2015; 7:7995-8004. [PMID: 25822787 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b00227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
{010}-Facet-exposed anatase TiO2 crystals exhibit the highest photoreactivity among the exposed facets. To obtain a higher exposure rate of this facet, the work investigated the transformation of the nanosheets with cavities within the layers derived from a rock-salt-structured Li2TiO3 precursor. All the lithium ions were extracted from the precursor by H+/Li+ ion exchange in HCl aqueous solutions, and after tetramethylammonium ions were intercalated, the precursor can delaminated into the nanosheets. The [TiO3]2- nanosheets were hydrothermally treated under different temperatures and pH values. The results showed that the anatase phase was formed in a wider range of pH and temperature, compared with using nanoribbons of [Ti4O9]2- and nanosheets of [Ti1.73O4]1.07-. At low pH, [111]-faceted nanorod-shaped anatase nanocrystals were formed preferentially, and the nanocrystals preferentially grow along the [001] direction with the increase of solution pH, leading to a large percentage of {010} facets on their surface. The photocatalytic activity increases with the increase of exposure rate of {010} facets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-en Du
- †Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- ‡Department of Advanced Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, Kagawa University, 2217-20 Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu-shi, 761-0396, Japan
| | - Dejian Du
- †Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Qi Feng
- ‡Department of Advanced Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, Kagawa University, 2217-20 Hayashi-cho, Takamatsu-shi, 761-0396, Japan
| | - Xiaojing Yang
- †Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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12
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Berardo E, Hu HS, van Dam HJJ, Shevlin SA, Woodley SM, Kowalski K, Zwijnenburg MA. Describing Excited State Relaxation and Localization in TiO2 Nanoparticles Using TD-DFT. J Chem Theory Comput 2014; 10:5538-48. [PMID: 26583237 DOI: 10.1021/ct500787x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
We have investigated the description of excited state relaxation in naked and hydrated TiO2 nanoparticles using Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) with three common hybrid exchange-correlation (XC) potentials: B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP and BHLYP. Use of TD-CAM-B3LYP and TD-BHLYP yields qualitatively similar results for all structures, which are also consistent with predictions of coupled-cluster theory for small particles. TD-B3LYP, in contrast, is found to make rather different predictions; including apparent conical intersections for certain particles that are not observed with TD-CAM-B3LYP nor with TD-BHLYP. In line with our previous observations for vertical excitations, the issue with TD-B3LYP appears to be the inherent tendency of TD-B3LYP, and other XC potentials with no or a low percentage of Hartree-Fock like exchange, to spuriously stabilize the energy of charge-transfer (CT) states. Even in the case of hydrated particles, for which vertical excitations are generally well described with all XC potentials, the use of TD-B3LYP appears to result in CT problems during excited state relaxation for certain particles. We hypothesize that the spurious stabilization of CT states by TD-B3LYP even may drive the excited state optimizations to different excited state geometries from those obtained using TD-CAM-B3LYP or TD-BHLYP. Finally, focusing on the TD-CAM-B3LYP and TD-BHLYP results, excited state relaxation in small naked and hydrated TiO2 nanoparticles is predicted to be associated with a large Stokes' shift.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Berardo
- Department of Chemistry, University College London , 20 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AJ London, U.K
| | - Han-Shi Hu
- William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Hubertus J J van Dam
- William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Stephen A Shevlin
- Department of Chemistry, University College London , 20 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AJ London, U.K
| | - Scott M Woodley
- Department of Chemistry, University College London , 20 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AJ London, U.K
| | - Karol Kowalski
- William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory, Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , K8-91, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, United States
| | - Martijn A Zwijnenburg
- Department of Chemistry, University College London , 20 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AJ London, U.K
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Roy N, Park Y, Sohn Y, Leung KT, Pradhan D. Green synthesis of anatase TiO(2) nanocrystals with diverse shapes and their exposed facets-dependent photoredox activity. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2014; 6:16498-16507. [PMID: 25188808 DOI: 10.1021/am504084p] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The exposed facets of a crystal are known to be one of the key factors to its physical, chemical and electronic properties. Herein, we demonstrate the role of amines on the controlled synthesis of TiO2 nanocrystals (NCs) with diverse shapes and different exposed facets. The chemical, physical and electronic properties of the as-synthesized TiO2 NCs were evaluated and their photoredox activity was tested. It was found that the intrinsic photoredox activity of TiO2 NCs can be enhanced by controlling the chemical environment of the surface, i.e.; through morphology evolution. In particular, the rod shape TiO2 NCs with ∼25% of {101} and ∼75% of {100}/{010} exposed facets show 3.7 and 3.1 times higher photocatalytic activity than that of commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 toward the degradation of methyl orange and methylene blue, respectively. The higher activity of the rod shape TiO2 NCs is ascribed to the facetsphilic nature of the photogenerated carriers within the NCs. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 NCs are found to be in the order of {101}+{100}/{010} (nanorods) > {101}+{001}+{100}/{010} (nanocuboids and nanocapsules) > {101} (nanoellipsoids) > {001} (nanosheets) providing the direct evidence of exposed facets-depended photocatalytic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitish Roy
- Materials Science Centre, Indian Institute of Technology , Kharagpur 721 302, W.B. India
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