Improving Visible Light-Absorptivity and Photoelectric Conversion Efficiency of a TiO₂ Nanotube Anode Film by Sensitization with Bi₂O₃ Nanoparticles

This study presents a novel visible light-active TiO₂ nanotube anode film by sensitization with Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles. The uniform incorporation of Bi₂O₃ contributes to largely enhancing the solar light absorption and photoelectric conversion efficiency of TiO₂ nanotubes. Due to the energy level difference between Bi₂O₃ and TiO₂, the built-in electric field is suggested to be formed in the Bi₂O₃ sensitized TiO₂ hybrid, which effectively separates the photo-generated electron-hole pairs and hence improves the photocatalytic activity. It is also found that the photoelectric conversion efficiency of Bi₂O₃ sensitized TiO₂ nanotubes is not in direct proportion with the content of the sensitizer, Bi₂O₃, which should be carefully controlled to realize excellent photoelectrical properties. With a narrower energy band gap relative to TiO₂, the sensitizer Bi₂O₃ can efficiently harvest the solar energy to generate electrons and holes, while TiO₂ collects and transports the charge carriers. The new-type visible light-sensitive photocatalyst presented in this paper will shed light on sensitizing many other wide-band-gap semiconductors for improving solar photocatalysis, and on understanding the visible light-driven photocatalysis through narrow-band-gap semiconductor coupling.