Surface Modifications and Growth of Titanium Dioxide for Photo-Electrochemical Water Splitting (Springer Theses)

This outstanding thesis provides a wide-ranging overview of the growth of titanium dioxide thin films and its use in photo-electrochemicals such as water splitting. The context for water splitting is introduced with the theory of semiconductor-liquid junctions, which are dealt with in detail. In particular plasmonic enhancement of TiO 2 by the addition of gold nanoparticles is considered in depth, including a thorough and critical review of the literature, which discusses the possible mechanisms that may be at work. Plasmonic enhancement is demonstrated with gold nanoparticles on Nb-doped TiO2. Finally, the use of temperature and pressure to control the phase and morphology of thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition is presented. Front Matter....Pages i-xli Introduction....Pages 1-3 Literature Review....Pages 5-45 Principles of Photo-Electrochemical Cells....Pages 47-92 Experimental Methods....Pages 93-130 Results: Plasmonic Photocurrent with AuNP-TiO2 ....Pages 131-177 Electrochemistry of TiO2—Rutile (110)....Pages 179-220 TiO2 Thin Films on Fused Silica....Pages 221-259 Epitaxial TiO2 Thin Films on Single Crystal Substrates....Pages 261-297 Conclusions....Pages 299-301 Back Matter....Pages 303-336