Interfacial band alignment for photocatalytic charge separation in TiO₂nanotube arrays coated with CuPt nanoparticles

Abstract

n-Type anatase-phase one-dimensional TiO2 nanostructure arrays coated with nanoparticles of Cu or CuPt have emerged as high performance photocatalysts for both photooxidation and photoreduction. The properties of the catalyst-promoter interface are recognized to be critical to this high performance but are largely unknown. Using X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS/UPS), we probed the electronic properties of the CuPt-TiO2 interface in transparent TiO2 nanotube arrays (TTNTAs) coated with photodeposited CuPt nanoparticles (CuPt-TTNTA hybrids) as well as those coated with sputtered CuPt (Sput-CuPt-TTNTA hybrids). XPS and UPS spectra provided the evidence of a Schottky barrier with a band-bending of 0.49-0.67 eV at the CuPt-TiO2 interface in CuPt-TTNTA hybrids due to which photoexcited electrons are expected to be retained in the TiO2 while photoexcited holes will be collected by the CuPt nanoparticles. For Sput-CuPt-TTNTA hybrids, no such band-bending was observed. These results point to the importance of the metal nanoparticle preparation technique on interfacial band-alignments and challenge the conventional understanding of the promoting action of noble metal nanoparticles on TiO2 photocatalysts as sinks for photoexcited electrons.