| Summary: | In this project, we studied the methods to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of
TiO2 nanostructures in pollutant degradation and elimination. From researches done
over years, it is proven that TiO2 is one of the most prominent oxides for photo
catalyst. However, not many studies have been conducted on nanotubes with branched
microstructures. Although nano-sized TiO2 is environmental friendly and cost
effective in terms of photo catalyst performances, its efficiency is low. The main
barrier lies within the issues of quick recombination of electrons, holes pairs and poor
absorbance of visible light. It was shown that TiO2 exhibits photo catalytic behaviour
under UV light, but UV light merely takes up about 4% of the sunlight, but visible
light takes up around half. Hence, extension of the absorption spectrum for TiO2 after
surface modification is one key parameters of our interest. In this project, TiO2
nanorod arrays have been grown on the glass substrates by hydrothermal growth and
were converted into TiO2 nanotube arrays by hydrothermal etching to increase the
surface area further. Ag3PO4 were deposited on the surface of the TiO2 nanorods and
nanotubes and the photocatalytic properties have been enhanced by the Ag3PO4
surface modification. Ag dopants act as electron sinks and can increase electron/hole
lifetime. Moreover, sinks would be aiding electron-hole separation
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