Capturing full-spectrum of solar energy using TiO2 ordered suprastructures

该项目旨在开发一种可以利用全光谱太阳能的二氧化钛（TiO 2）半导体。太阳能驱动的光催化过程在水净化和能源生产中具有重要的应用。它们的有效性取决于半导体的吸收率和光能转化为化学能。TiO2价格低廉，化学和机械性能稳定，是最有前途的半导体材料。然而，未改性的二氧化钛只吸收紫外线（太阳能的5%）。随着目前在可见光吸收方面取得的进展，该项目旨在通过掺杂上转换镧系元素并呈现可以捕获光的胶体晶体超结构来显着改善TiO 2在近红外的吸收。

The project aims to develop a titanium dioxide (TiO2) semiconductor that can use full-spectrum solar energy. Solar-driven photocatalytic processes have important applications in water decontamination and energy production. Their effectiveness is dictated by the semiconductor’s absorbance and conversion of photoenergy to chemical energy. Being inexpensive, chemically and mechanically robust, TiO2 is the most promising material for the semiconductor. However, unmodified TiO2 only absorbs ultraviolet light (5 per cent of solar energy). With current progress made in visible absorbance, this project aims to significantly improve TiO2’s absorbance in near infrared by doping with upconversion lanthanides and rendering colloidal crystal suprastructures that can trap light.