Engineering Coexposed {001} and {101} Facets in Oxygen-Deficient TiO 2 Nanocrystals for Enhanced CO 2 Photoreduction under Visible Light

This work for the first time reports engineered oxygen-deficient, blue TiO2 nanocrystals with coexposed {101}-{001} facets (TiO2–x{001}-{101}) to enhance CO2 photoreduction under visible light. The TiO2–x{001}-{101} material demonstrated a relatively high quantum yield (0.31% under UV–vis light and 0.134% under visible light) for CO2 reduction to CO by water vapor and more than 4 times higher visible light activity in comparison with TiO2 with a single {001} plane or {101} plane and TiO2(P25). Possible reasons are the exposure of more active sites (e.g., undercoordinated Ti atoms and oxygen vacancies), the facilitated electron transfer between {001} and {101} planes, and the formation of a new energy state…

• UO
  University of California, San Diego
• DO
  Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems

  Awards: CBET-1254709, CBET-1538404