Heterostructure of epitaxial (001) Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12) growth on (001) TiO sub(2) for enhancing photocatalytic activity

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2016-01, Vol.654, p.71-78
• Main Authors: Zhanga, Jun, Huanga, Lihai, Liua, Pengliang, Wanga, Yan, Jiangb, Xudong, Zhanga, Erpan, Wangc, Hongbo, Konga, Zhe, Xia, Junhua, Jia, Zhenguo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anatase; Carriers; Catalytic activity; Channels; Crystals; Epitaxial growth; Heterostructures; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 0925-8388
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.09.067

In this work, specific exposed crystal facets were employed to construct epitaxial heterostructure for high efficiency carriers transmission channel. The (001) face of anatase TiO sub(2) was chosen to composite (001) Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12) for two reasons. First, as the lattice spacing of (110) faces of anatase TiO sub(2) (0.26741 nm) is very close to that of (020) (0.27240 nm) or (200) (0.27080 nm) faces of Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12), (001) Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12) will epitaxial grow on the (001) faces of anatase TiO sub(2). Second, due to the high surface energy, the chemical reaction between TiO sub(2) and Bi(NO sub(3)) sub(3) will occur at a low Bi:Ti mole ratio to form well crystallographic Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12) nanocrystals. Compared with Bi sub(4)Ti sub(3)O sub(12)/P25 composite, this epitaxial heterostructure is confirmed to be an ideal carriers exchange channel to extend the separation time of photo-induced carriers and enhance photocatalytic activity. This study demonstrates the importance of crystal facets choice of substrate for constructing high efficiency carriers transmission channel.