Solar-driven hydrogen production with black titanium dioxide

In this talk, we will give an overview of our recent work on enhancing solar absorption of titanium dioxide by introducing disorders in the nanocrystal surface layers, which induces a dramatic color change of the white nanocrystals. We will show that disorder-engineered titanium dioxide 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. The presentation will end with a brief discussion of the mechanism underlying enhanced solar absorption due to the incorporation of disorders.