Increasing solar absorption for photocatalysis with black hydrogenated titanium dioxide nanocrystals

When used as a photocatalyst, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) absorbs only ultraviolet light, and several approaches, including the use of dopants such as nitrogen, have been taken to narrow the band gap of TiO₂. We demonstrated a conceptually different approach to enhancing solar absorption by introducing disorder in the surface layers of nanophase TiO₂ through hydrogenation. We showed that disorder-engineered TiO₂ nanocrystals exhibit substantial solar-driven photocatalytic activities, including the photo-oxidation of organic molecules in water and the production of hydrogen with the use of a sacrificial reagent.