Effect of Xe ion irradiation on photocatalytic performance of oblique TiO₂ nanowire arrays

Highlights: • Isolated and oblique TiO₂ nanowire arrays were obtained by magnetron sputtering method and subsequent annealing. • The films were irradiated by Xe ion with different influences. • The photocatalytic property was studied upon UV irradiation. • The irradiated TiO₂ nanowire arrays show superior photocatalytic activity. • The enhancement by Xe ion irradiation lays in induced Ti³⁺. - Abstract: In this work oblique TiO₂ nanowire arrays (NWs) were prepared by magnetron sputtering method and irradiated by 200 keV Xe ion with different doses. The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ was studied by degrading methyl orange dye (MO) under ultraviolet (UV) light, which indicates that the photocatalytic performance of as-deposited and irradiated TiO₂ NWs. It was found that when the dose was relatively low, the Ti³⁺ content on the surface was increased upon irradiation, dominating the enhancement of the photocatalytic property of the TiO₂ NWs. By this means, an optimization of Xe ion dose can largely improve the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ NWs