Thiourea doped TiO2: Structural, optical and electrochemical properties

Abstract

Pure and thiourea doped TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using sol gel route and characterised for its structural, optical and electrochemical properties. Structural characterization was performed by powder X-ray diffraction measurements which confirmed formation of double phase, anatase and brookite phase with particle size of ~ 10 nm. The optical absorbance of the pure and doped TiO2 have been measured in the visible and NIR region and band gap energy obtained lies in the range of 3.0–2.65 eV. The carrier concentration calculated by Mott Schottky exhibits an increase on doping TiO2 with thiourea. This work suggests that the doped TiO2 could be used as promising materials for use as photocatalyst, optoelectronics and photoanode in dye sensitized solar cells due to its higher absorption and high carrier concentration.