701. Manipulating spin polarization of titanium dioxide for efficient photocatalysis.
- Author
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Pan L, Ai M, Huang C, Yin L, Liu X, Zhang R, Wang S, Jiang Z, Zhang X, Zou JJ, and Mi W
- Abstract
Photocatalysis has been regarded as a promising strategy for hydrogen production and high-value-added chemicals synthesis, in which the activity of photocatalyst depends significantly on their electronic structures, however the effect of electron spin polarization has been rarely considered. Here we report a controllable method to manipulate its electron spin polarization by tuning the concentration of Ti vacancies. The characterizations confirm the emergence of spatial spin polarization among Ti-defected TiO
2 , which promotes the efficiency of charge separation and surface reaction via the parallel alignment of electron spin orientation. Specifically, Ti0.936 O2 , possessing intensive spin polarization, performs 20-fold increased photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and 8-fold increased phenol photodegradation rates, compared with stoichiometric TiO2 . Notably, we further observed the positive effect of external magnetic fields on photocatalytic activity of spin-polarized TiO2 , attributed to the enhanced electron-spin parallel alignment. This work may create the opportunity for tailoring the spin-dependent electronic structures in metal oxides.- Published
- 2020
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