Fabrication of TiO 2 nanotube (TiNT) films nicely decorated with lower band gap semiconducting nanoparticles remains a challenging issue for photocatalytic and solar cell applications active under visible light irradiation. In this study, TiNT films were decorated with copper selenide species via alternating current deposition method. For the first time, to achieve uniform loading of copper selenide species inside the TiNT film, as-grown and calcined TiNT films before depositions were subjected to hydrogen doping in various solutions under DC and AC pretreatments as well as by treating TiNT in H 2 atmosphere. Different pretreatments resulted in different architectures of Cu x Se-in-TiNT formed by subsequent AC deposition from the acidic Cu(II)-H 2 SeO 3 solution allowing predictable to encase Cu 2 Se 3 , Cu 2 Se, CuSe, or Cu 2-x Se species in nm-scaled size. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy with EDS and X-ray mapping, low-angle X-ray diffraction, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were applied to characterize the morphology, composition, uniformity of loading, and optical properties of the fabricated heterostructures. Except light absorption, characteristic for anatase TiO 2 , the additional absorption edge in the visible region is formed in the TiNT films decorated with copper selenide.
Nanoparticulate surfaces possessing antimicrobial and fungicidal properties under visible light illumination have found wide applications in a number of fields. In this study, titania nanotubes, as well as titania compact films were designed with pure Cu 2 O crystals in a mildly acidic copper acetate solution using a simple alternating current (AC) deposition approach. In this way, the thermally oxidized Ti substrate was coated by densely packed pyramidal and bipyramidal shaped Cu 2 O crystals with dominant (111) planes and investigated against several types of fungi and bacteria. For comparison, TiO 2 nanotube (TiNT) films were also decorated with similar crystals and tested. The results showed that, compared to bare TiO 2 films, both Cu 2 O-inTiNT and Cu 2 O-on-TiO 2 heterostructures exhibited remarkably enhanced activity against tested fungi and bacteria. We also demonstrated that the high photoactivity of these crystals remained even after 50 h stability tests under bright light illumination. The results obtained from in vitro tests indicated that Cu 2 O-in/on-TiO 2 heterostructures show promise as visible light driven antimicrobial materials.
In this study, novel electrodes were prepared via decoration of nanotubed TiO 2 (TiNT) films with crystalline twodimensional (2D) MoS 2 species by a one-step hydrothermal synthesis approach. Obtained products were characterized in detail by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, U-I measurements and X-ray diffraction techniques. The influence of hydrothermal synthesis conditions on the composition and morphology of the products formed in the solution and within the TiNT film are also discussed. For the first time, acceptable decoration of TiNT films, by tethering 2D layered MoS 2 leaflets onto the TiO 2 nanotubes, and on the film surface was obtained in the low concentration solutions, while the performance of these heterostructures in relation to electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was tested. Stable catalytic activity of the obtained 2D MoS 2-in-TiNT films was demonstrated under intense HER conditions within the potential window [-0.2 to-0.4 V] vs. RHE with a notably low Tafel slope of 33 mV/ decade.
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