Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is widely applied as a photocatalyst; however, its widespread use is limited by its wide band gap; moreover, it is challenging and interesting to make TiO₂ absorb the whole range of visible light. In this study, conductive Nb-doped TiO₂ (NTO) thin films have been demonstrated to increase the photocatalytic performance of anatase TiO₂ due to whole visible-light absorption and efficient charge transfer. Interestingly, the origin of the whole visible absorption was ascribed to the extended free-carrier absorption (FCA) based on theoretical calculations and electrical properties. The NTO thin film with a high degree of (004) orientation showed better photocatalytic performance than others due to its better absorption, more effective charge transfer, and greater ability to completely degrade pollutants. In addition, a synergistic effect for the enhancement of photocatalytic performance was observed when the thin films were irradiated by alternating the wavelength of the LED light source between 365 nm and 515 nm. We have also demonstrated that these thin films are suitable for self-cleaning coatings.

中文翻译：

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导电的Nb掺杂的TiO ₂薄膜具有全部可见光吸收，可降解污染物†

二氧化钛（TiO ₂）被广泛用作光催化剂；二氧化钛（TiO ₂）被广泛地用作光催化剂。然而，由于其宽带隙的限制，它的广泛使用受到了限制；而且，使TiO ₂吸收整个可见光范围是具有挑战性和有趣的。在这项研究中，已证明导电Nb掺杂的TiO ₂（NTO）薄膜可提高锐钛矿型TiO ₂的光催化性能。由于整个可见光吸收和有效的电荷转移。有趣的是，基于理论计算和电学性质，整个可见光吸收的起因是扩展的自由载流子吸收（FCA）。具有高度（004）取向的NTO薄膜比其他薄膜具有更好的光催化性能，这是因为其具有更好的吸收性，更有效的电荷转移以及完全降解污染物的能力。另外，当通过在365nm和515nm之间改变LED光源的波长照射薄膜时，观察到增强光催化性能的协同效应。我们还证明了这些薄膜适用于自清洁涂料。