Abstract
A thriving field in nanotechnology is to develop synergetic functions of nanomaterials by taking full advantages of unique properties of each component. In this context, combining TiO2 nanocrystals and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) offers enhanced photosensitivity and improved photocatalytic efficiency, which is key to achieving sustainable energy and preventing environmental pollution. Hence, it has aroused a tremendous research interest. This report surveys recent research on the topic of synthesis and characterization of the CNT–TiO2 interface. In particular, atomic layer deposition (ALD) offers a good control of the size, crystallinity and morphology of TiO2 on CNTs. Analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques such as electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in scanning transmission mode provides structural, chemical and electronic information with an unprecedented spatial resolution and increasingly superior energy resolution, and hence is a necessary tool to characterize the CNT–TiO2 interface, as well as other technologically relevant CNT–metal/metal oxide material systems.
Highlights
Since the discovery by Iijima in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have always been on the research frontier due to their extraordinary properties [1,2,3,4,5]
While it has been long discovered that TiO2, a semiconductor that can be obtained cost-effectively and environmentally friendly, is a good candidate for electrochemical photocatalysis [6], recent research shows that its limited absorption of only the UV part of the sunlight spectrum can be extended to visible light when forming a nanocomposite with CNTs [7,8,9]
These results demonstrate the capability of energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) to characterize the interface of CNT–metal/metal oxides on the nanometer or the atomic level
Summary
Since the discovery by Iijima in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have always been on the research frontier due to their extraordinary properties [1,2,3,4,5]. Characterization of the interface will help to understand the mechanisms, and requires techniques capable of revealing structural details on a nanometer and atomic scale, for which electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a good candidate.
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