Nanostructured carbon-doping anodic TiO2 from TiC and its photoelectrochemical properties

In this paper, nanostructured carbon-doped titanium dioxide (TiO2-xCx) has been fabricated from titanium carbide (TiC) thin film using electrochemical anodization in a solution containing fluorine ion. The resulting samples were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoelectrochemistry. The SEM images and EDX analysis indicated that a nanostructured thin film of carbon-doped titanium dioxide had been formed. The XRD pattern showed the structural change from TiC to anatase type TiO2 after annealing. A series of photoelectrochemical measurement showed an increase in photovoltage and in photocurrent for the electrode of anodized TiC sample. The results demonstrated the feasibility to process carbon doped nanostructured TiO2 through anodization promising for applications in high efficient photoelectrochemical conversion.