Role of defects and interfacial interactions in ion irradiated noble metal based TiO2 hybrid nanostructures for improved photocatalytic investigation

Abstract

Photocatalysis is an interesting process that can help solve problems like pollution and the growing energy crisis. Defect-induced one-dimensional titanium dioxide (TiO2) based hybrid nanostructures have attracted considerable interest for photocatalytic applications owing to chemical stability and environmental friendliness. The present study investigates the effect of defects and interface interactions induced by the high energy of 80 MeV Oxygen ion irradiation in Ag and Au, noble metal-based TiO2 nanorods (TiNRs) hybrid nanostructures. These irradiations at high fluences incorporated more defects in the system leading to damage to the nanostructures. It is found that the hybrids irradiated with the low fluence of 5E11 ions/cm2 are more prone to defects in comparison to hybrids irradiated with high fluence 5E12 ions/cm2 where the system gets annealed. The Micro-Raman studies reveal that this irradiation with high fluences damages the nanostructure of TiNRs. The morphological changes as well as defects induced in the hybrids are further studied for photocatalysis. The altered morphology of AuTiNRs hybrids with low fluences results in increased photocatalytic activity when compared to AgTiNRs hybrids with low fluences. Ion irradiation produces oxygen vacancies and the interface interactions that make it easier for charge carriers in these materials to be transported. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.