Unraveling the Surface Reactivity of Pristine and Ti-Doped Hematite with Water

Water adsorption and dissociation on undoped and Ti-doped hematite thin films were investigated using near-ambient pressure photoemission and DFT calculations. A fine understanding of doping effects is of prime importance in the framework of photoanode efficiency in aqueous conditions. By comparison to pure Fe2O3 surface, the Ti(2%)-Fe2O3 surface shows a lower hydroxylation level. We demonstrate that titanium induces wide structural modifications of the surface, preventing it from reaching full hydroxylation.

Automated summary

In this study, water adsorption and dissociation on undoped and Ti-doped hematite thin films were investigated using experimental and theoretical methods. It was found that Ti doping can reduce the hydroxylation level and induce wide structural modifications of the surface, preventing full hydroxylation.