Abstract
The oxygen-rich Ti-based composite (ORTC) microspheres with high visible-light photoactivity were successfully synthesized by a facile and dopant-free hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized urchin-like microspheres possess a controllable hierarchical structure that is strongly dependent on the concentration of H2O2 and NH4Cl, and displayed an excellent visible light photoactivity without annealing activation, which is attributed to the formation of the oxygen excess defects. The ORTC prepared in optimal conditions gave the narrowest band gap of 2.31 eV due to its highest oxygen excess defects content, and showed a stable and high-efficiency visible-light photocatalytic performance for organic dyes degradation, exhibiting three-fold as that of the control sample. The synergistic effect of oxygen excess defects, hierarchical structure and strong adsorption capacity was identified as the key factor responsible for the prominent performance. Based on the obtained results, a plausible mechanism for fabricating urchin-like ORTC microspheres with nanofiber branches was proposed and discussed in detail.
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