Enhanced Photoabsorption from Cobalt Implanted Rutile TiO2 (110) Surfaces

TL;DR

This study shows that cobalt ion implantation on rutile TiO2 (110) surfaces creates nanostructures and oxygen vacancies, significantly enhancing photoabsorption in UV and visible light, with potential applications in photocatalysis.

Contribution

It introduces a method of cobalt implantation to induce nanostructures and oxygen vacancies, improving TiO2's photoabsorption properties for photocatalytic applications.

Findings

UV photoabsorption increased 2-fold

Visible photoabsorption increased 5-fold

Nanostructure formation and oxygen vacancies observed

Abstract

Present study investigates the photoabsorption properties of single crystal rutile TiO2 (110) surfaces after they have been implanted with low fluence of Cobalt ions. The surfaces, after implantation, demonstrate fabrication of nanostructures and anisotropic nano-ripple patterns. Creation of oxygen vacancies (Ti3+ states) as well as band gap modification for these samples is also observed. Results presented here demonstrate that fabrication of self organized nanostructures and development of oxygen vacancies, upon cobalt implantation, promote the enhancement of photoabsorbance in both UV (2 times) and visible (5 times) regimes. These investigations on nanostructured TiO2 surfaces can be important for photo- catalysis.