Abstract To evaluate the effects of surface properties of semiconductor and enhance semiconductor’s activity for photocatalytic water oxidation, low-energy Ar+ irradiation was employed to modify the rutile TiO2 (110) surface and control the formation of oxygen vacancy density in TiO2, which was subsequently used for the photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Specifically, by controlling the substrate temperature during Ar+ irradiation, the surface morphology and oxygen vacancy density of rutile TiO2 (110) could be modified, such that the effects of surface crystallinity, optical absorption and electrical properties of TiO2 could be compared for OER. We found that the intrinsic activity of TiO2 for PEC OER does not exhibit a scaling relationship with respect to the density of oxygen vacancy, optical adsorption or charge carrier concentration. Rather, a linear relationship could be observed between the photocurrent density and the interfacial charge-transport conductivity. Furthermore, ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) was used to investigate the effect of low-energy Ar+ irradiation on the interaction between TiO2 and water. It was demonstrated that using single crystal model systems with controlled properties, this study has thus provided a clear yet detailed analysis on key factors in tuning the photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2.

中文翻译：

---

低能Ar+辐照改性TiO2的光电化学性能增强

摘要 为了评价半导体表面性质的影响，提高半导体对光催化水氧化的活性，采用低能Ar+辐照对金红石型TiO2(110)表面进行改性，控制TiO2中氧空位密度的形成，随后将其用于光催化水氧化。用于光电化学 (PEC) 析氧反应 (OER)。具体而言，通过控制Ar+辐照期间的衬底温度，可以改变金红石TiO2（110）的表面形貌和氧空位密度，从而可以比较TiO2的表面结晶度、光吸收和电学性质对OER的影响。我们发现 TiO2 对 PEC OER 的固有活性与氧空位密度没有比例关系，光吸附或电荷载流子浓度。相反，可以在光电流密度和界面电荷传输电导率之间观察到线性关系。此外，使用环境压力 X 射线光电子能谱 (APXPS) 来研究低能 Ar+ 辐射对 TiO2 和水之间相互作用的影响。结果表明，使用具有受控特性的单晶模型系统，本研究对调节 TiO2 光电化学性能的关键因素进行了清晰而详细的分析。使用环境压力 X 射线光电子能谱 (APXPS) 来研究低能 Ar+ 辐射对 TiO2 和水之间相互作用的影响。结果表明，使用具有受控特性的单晶模型系统，本研究对调节 TiO2 光电化学性能的关键因素进行了清晰而详细的分析。使用环境压力 X 射线光电子能谱 (APXPS) 来研究低能 Ar+ 辐射对 TiO2 和水之间相互作用的影响。结果表明，使用具有受控特性的单晶模型系统，本研究对调节 TiO2 光电化学性能的关键因素进行了清晰而详细的分析。