Reduced Titania Films with Ordered Nanopores and Their Application to Visible Light Water Splitting

We report on the photoelectrochemical properties of partially reduced mesoporous titania thin films. The fabrication is achieved by synthesizing mesoporous titania thin films through the self-assembly of a titania precursor and a block copolymer, followed by aging and calcination, and heat-treatment under a H2 (1 torr) environment. Depending on the temperature used for the reaction with H2, the degree of the reduction (generation of oxygen vacancies) of the titania is controlled. The oxygen vacancies induce visible light absorption, and decrease of resistance while the mesoporosity is practically unaltered. The photoelectrochemical activity data on these films, by measuring their photocurrent-potential behavior in 1 M NaOH electrolyte under AM 1.5G 100 mW cm-2 illumination, show that the three effects of the oxygen vacancies contribute to the enhancement of the photoelectrochemical properties of the mesoporous titania thin films. The results show that these oxygen deficient TiO2 mesoporous thin films hold great promise for a solar hydrogen generation. Suggestions for the materials design for improved photoelectrochemical properties are made