Surface morphology-dependent functionality of titanium dioxide–nickel oxide nanocomposite semiconductors

Abstract

In this study, TiO2–NiO heterostructures were synthesized by combining hydrothermal and chemical bath deposition methods. The post-annealing temperature was varied to control the surface features of the TiO2–NiO heterostructures. TiO2–NiO heterostructures annealed at 350 °C comprised NiO-nanosheet-decorated TiO2 nanostructures (NST), whereas those annealed at 500 °C comprised NiO-nanoparticle-decorated TiO2 nanostructures (NPT). The NPT exhibited higher photodegradation activity than the NST in terms of methylene blue (MB) degradation under irradiation. Structural analyses demonstrated that the NPT had a higher surface adsorption capability for MB dyes and superior light-harvesting ability; thus, they exhibited greater photodegradation ability toward MB dyes. In addition, the NST showed high gas-sensing responses compared with the NPT when exposed to acetone vapor. This result was attributable to the higher number of oxygen-deficient regions on the surfaces of the NST, which increased the amount of surface-chemisorbed oxygen species. This resulted in a relatively large resistance variation for the NST when exposed to acetone vapor.