An Electrochemical Study on the Nature of Trap States in Nanocrystalline Rutile Thin Films

Abstract

For monocrystalline TiO2 electrodes, capacitive currents are observed at potentials that are negative enough to induce the filling of conduction band states. Nanoparticulate electrodes exhibit, apart from these currents, an additional pair of capacitive peaks at more positive potentials, which can be attributed to charge traps in the band gap. We have taken advantage of the well-defined morphology and crystal structure of three different types of rutile electrodes to investigate the nature of these band gap states. In particular, nanostructured films composed of oriented wires, films of randomly distributed nanoparticles, and smooth single crystals have been used. The analysis of the cyclic voltammetry response reveals a strong dependence of the trap state concentration on the morphological structure of the films. On the basis of results concerning the surface modification of the electrodes, we propose a model with a location of these band gap states at grain boundaries. We report, furthermore, on a new procedure to prepare hierarchically organized nanostructures by direct deposition of nanowires onto nanoparticulate films in aqueous solutions at low temperature. From a practical point of view, this procedure allows for a systematic tuning of the inner surface area and the porosity of the original samples.