A passivated codoping approach to tailor the band edges of TiO_2 for efficient photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants

摘要

We propose an effective passivated codoping approach to tailor the band edges of TiO_2 by doping the host with group IVA and group VIB impurities to passive donor-acceptor complexes. A way of achieving p-type TiO_2 is found, which can outspread the application range of TiO_2 semiconductor. It is demonstrated that the carbon (C)/tungsten (W) codoped TiO_2 has a substantial increase in the valence band edge, while leaving the conduction band edge almost unchanged, thus improving the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. In principle, the suggested approach for overcoming the p-type doping bottleneck can be applied to other wide-band-gap semiconductors.