Enhanced Light‐Harvesting and Photocatalytic Properties in <i>Morph</i>‐TiO₂ from Green‐Leaf Biotemplates

Abstract

Abstract The unique structure of green leaves endows them with an extremely high light‐harvesting efficiency. In this work, green leaves are applied as biotemplates to synthesize morph ‐TiO 2 . The structural features favorable for light harvesting from the macro‐ to the nanoscale are replicated in morph ‐TiO 2 through a two‐step infiltration process and the N contained in the original leaves is self‐doped into the resulting samples. The absorbance intensities within the visible‐light range of morph ‐TiO 2 derived from different leaves increase by 103–258% and the band‐gap‐absorption onsets at the edge of the UV and visible‐light range show a red‐shift of 25–100 nm compared to those in TiO 2 without the template. The photocatalytic activity of morph ‐TiO 2 is also improved, as proven by an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study and degradation of rhodamine dye under irradiation with UV and visible light. The present work, as a new strategy, is of far‐reaching significance in learning from nature, driving us to make full use of the most‐abundant resources and structure‐introduced functions endowed by nature, opening up possibilities for extensive study of the physical and chemical properties of morph ‐structured oxides and extending their potential for use in applications such as solar cells, photocatalysts, photoelectrical devices, and photoinduced sensors.