Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Behavior of H-TiO Nanorods Hydrogenated by Controlled and Local Rapid Thermal Annealing.

Recently, colored H-doped TiO (H-TiO) has demonstrated enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance due to its unique crystalline core-disordered shell nanostructures and consequent enhanced conduction behaviors between the core-shell homo-interfaces. Although various hydrogenation approaches to obtain H-TiO have been developed, such as high temperature hydrogen furnace tube annealing, high pressure hydrogen annealing, hydrogen-plasma assisted reaction, aluminum reduction and electrochemical reduction etc., there is still a lack of a hydrogenation approach in a controlled manner where all processing parameters (temperature, time and hydrogen flux) were precisely controlled in order to improve the PEC performance of H-TiO and understand the physical insight of enhanced PEC performance.