C–H doped anatase nanospheres with disordered shell and planar defects synthesized by pulsed laser ablation of bulk Ti in tetraethyl orthosilicate

Abstract

C–H doped anatase nanospheres with disorder-engineered surface layers were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation of Ti in tetraethyl orthosilicate and characterized using X-ray/electron diffraction and optical spectroscopy. The anatase (Ant) has (hkl)-specific twinning/faulting/ordering and follows a specific crystallographic relationship with the TiC_xO_y and β-Ti nuclei both having paracrystalline distribution of defect clusters due to solute trapping. The colloidal suspension containing composite nanocondensates with an amorphous C_1−xSi_x:H shell showed visible absorbance indicating a minimum band gap of ca. 2 eV for potential photocatalytic applications.