Thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) have attracted considerable attention in the past few years, since nanocrystalline TiO2 shows outstanding properties and has widespread application potential. The possible applications range from solar cells and energy conversion systems, gas and UVsensors, battery systems to photocatalysis and self-cleaning surfaces. All these applications rely on the semi...

A hydrothermal method for the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/titanium dioxide filter (RGO/TiO2) and reduced graphene oxide/zinc oxide filter (RGO/ZnO) by using polypropylene (PP) porous filter is reported. Field emission scanning electron microscopy illustrated that the nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets. Flexural tests showed that the physica...

Plasmonic metal/semiconductor heterostructures show promise for visible-light-driven photocatalysis. Gold nanorods (AuNRs) semi-coated with TiO2 are expected to be ideally structured systems for hydrogen evolution. Synthesizing such structures by wet-chemistry methods, however, has proved challenging. Here we report the bottom-up synthesis of AuNR/TiO2 nanodumbbells (NDs) with spatially separat...

Anatase/rutile mixed titania nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) precipitated with gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), i.e. Au/TiO2, have been synthesized and investigated on visible photocatalysis properties. A deposition-precipitation (DP) method was adopted to reduce the gold precursor to Au NPs within the preformed TiO2 NTs by the emulsion electrospinning technique. The optimal visible photocatalytic activity wa...

The surface phase junction of nanocrystalline TiO2 plays an essential role in governing its photocatalytic activity. Thus, facile and simple methods for preparing phase-junction TiO2 photocatalysts are highly desired. In this work, we show that phase-junction TiO2 is directly synthesized from Ti foil by using a simple calcination method with hydrothermal solution as the precursor below the phas...

Here we present a method to produce TiO2 nanocrystals coated by thin layer of graphitic carbon. The coating process was prepared via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with acetylene used as a carbon feedstock with TiO2 used as a substrate. Different temperatures (400°C and 500°C) and times (10, 20, and 60 s) of reaction were explored. The prepared nanocomposites were investigated by means of tran...

This paper presents a simple process for making tellurium (Te) nanoand microtubes of widely varying dimensions with the multiscale processing (MSP) technique. In this process, the Te metal was placed in a borosilicate glass reaction vessel and a fuse quartz substrate was added. Th vessel was evacuated and seal d unde vacuum with a torch. Then, the vessel was heated under a temperatur gradient w...

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most popular material for applications in solar-energy conversion and photocatalysis, both of which rely on the creation, transport, and trapping of charges (holes and electrons). The nature and lifetime of electron traps at room temperature have so far not been elucidated. Herein, we use picosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ti K-edge and the Ru L3-edge...

In the present work, a facile and efficient fabrication method has been developed for creating super-hydrophobic coatings of silver-doped TiO2@polycarbonate (TiO2 (Ag)@PC) on the substrates of different materials with photocatalytic self-cleaning performances simply by the "dipping and drying" process. The substrates were first patterned with glue and then deposited with the dopamine-capped TiO...

Semiconductor photocatalysts have important applications in the fields of renewable energy and environmental remediation. Of these, TiO2 stands out as one of the most investigated compounds in contemporary material science. Because of its unique physical and chemical properties, TiO2 is extensively used in photoelectrochemical applications including photocatalysis and photovoltaics. In this Rev...