by Katarzyna Płacheta, Marta Radecka, Jakub Zięba, Sunil Kumar and Katarzyna Zakrzewska
Abstract:
Enhanced light harvesting as a strategy to increase photocurrent of titanium dioxide-based photoanodes for hydrogen generation is the main focus of this work. Single TiO2:Er layers and heterostructures composed of TiO2:Er3+ and undoped TiO2 have been obtained by means of reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering from Ti/Er and Ti metallic targets. Increasing the concentration of Er3+ leads to amorphization of TiO2. X-ray photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectra collected with synchrotron radiation, as well as Rutherford backscattering spectra, reveal that Er3+ ions are distributed homogenously in the TiO2 lattice. Top TiO2 layer, which is found to be of a mixed anatase and rutile structure from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, acts as an anti-reflective coating. Diffuse reflectance and transmittance spectra measured with an integrating sphere confirm the increase in surface roughness and enhanced light scattering. As a result, bilayers exhibit photocurrent values up to 10 times higher than single layers.
Reference:
Katarzyna Płacheta, Marta Radecka, Jakub Zięba, Sunil Kumar and Katarzyna Zakrzewska, “TiO2/TiO2:Er bilayers for improved light harvesting in photoelectrochemical processes”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 224, pp. 154401.
Bibtex Entry:
@article{placheta_tio2tio2er_2026,
title = {{TiO2}/{TiO2}:{Er} bilayers for improved light harvesting in photoelectrochemical processes},
volume = {224},
issn = {0360-3199},
shorttitle = {{TiO2}/{TiO2}},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319926010384},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.154401},
abstract = {Enhanced light harvesting as a strategy to increase photocurrent of titanium dioxide-based photoanodes for hydrogen generation is the main focus of this work. Single TiO2:Er layers and heterostructures composed of TiO2:Er3+ and undoped TiO2 have been obtained by means of reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering from Ti/Er and Ti metallic targets. Increasing the concentration of Er3+ leads to amorphization of TiO2. X-ray photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectra collected with synchrotron radiation, as well as Rutherford backscattering spectra, reveal that Er3+ ions are distributed homogenously in the TiO2 lattice. Top TiO2 layer, which is found to be of a mixed anatase and rutile structure from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, acts as an anti-reflective coating. Diffuse reflectance and transmittance spectra measured with an integrating sphere confirm the increase in surface roughness and enhanced light scattering. As a result, bilayers exhibit photocurrent values up to 10 times higher than single layers.},
urldate = {2026-07-09},
journal = {International Journal of Hydrogen Energy},
author = {Płacheta, Katarzyna and Radecka, Marta and Zięba, Jakub and Kumar, Sunil and Zakrzewska, Katarzyna},
month = apr,
year = {2026},
keywords = {Light harvesting, Rare earth, Thin films, Titanium dioxide, Water splitting},
pages = {154401},
file = {PDF:E:\Usuarios\Administrator\Zotero\storage\S3V8AHC6\Płacheta et al. - 2026 - TiO2TiO2Er bilayers for improved light harvesting in photoelectrochemical processes.pdf:application/pdf},
}