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Predictive Removal of Interfacial Defect-Induced Trap States between Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles via Sub-Monolayer Zirconium Coating

Debgupta, Joyashish; Lari, Leonardo; Isaacs, Mark; Carey, John; McKenna, Keith P; Lazarov, Vlado K; Chechik, Victor; (2022) Predictive Removal of Interfacial Defect-Induced Trap States between Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles via Sub-Monolayer Zirconium Coating. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c06927. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

First principles modeling of anatase TiO2 surfaces and their interfacial contacts shows that defect-induced trap states within the band gap arise from intrinsic structural distortions, and these can be corrected by modification with Zr(IV) ions. Experimental testing of these predictions has been undertaken using anatase nanocrystals modified with a range of Zr precursors and characterized using structural and spectroscopic methods. Continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy revealed that under illumination, nanoparticle–nanoparticle interfacial hole trap states dominate, which are significantly reduced after optimizing the Zr doping. Fabrication of nanoporous films of these materials and charge injection using electrochemical methods shows that Zr doping also leads to improved electron conductivity and mobility in these nanocrystalline systems. The simple methodology described here to reduce the concentration of interfacial defects may have wider application to improving the efficiency of systems incorporating metal oxide powders and films including photocatalysts, photovoltaics, fuel cells, and related energy applications.

Type: Article
Title: Predictive Removal of Interfacial Defect-Induced Trap States between Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles via Sub-Monolayer Zirconium Coating
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c06927
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c06927
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Keywords: Defects, Minerals, Nanoparticles, Oxides, Sintering
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10162677
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