Single-walled TiO2 nanotubes: Enhanced carrier-transport properties by TiCl4 treatment

Abstract

In the present work we report significant enhancement of the photoelectrochemical properties of self- organized TiO2 nanotubes by a combined "de-coring" of classic nanotubes followed by an appropiate TiCl4 treatment. We show that, except for the expected particle decoration, a key effect of the TiCl4 treatment is that the electron transport characteristics in TiO2 nanotubes can be drastically improved, for example, we observe an enhancement of up to 70 % in electron-transport times. Combined "de-coring" of classic nanotubes followed by an appropiate TiCl4 treatment led to a significant enhancement of the photoelectrochemical properties of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes.