Increase in Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 through Intervalence Charge Transfer

二氧化钛（TiO2）在能源和环境领域有许多已提出和实现的应用。阻碍使用TiO2的设备开发和商业化的主要问题是它的光催化活性低，这是由于它对可见光和红外光的吸收能力差。大多数研究人员通过传统的电化学方法修改TiO2的性质来提高其性能，但这些尝试的成功有限。目前的研究涉及一种全新的方法来解决这个问题，该方法是基于蓝宝石热处理以改善其颜色的方法。这种方法利用一种涉及改变光学特性的现象来提高其对光的吸收。

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has many proposed and realised applications in energy and the environment. The main problem that has hindered development and commercialisation of devices using TiO2 is its low photocatalytic activity, which results from its poor absorption of visible and infrared light. Most researchers modify the properties of TiO2 by conventional electrochemical methods to improve its performance but these attempts have been of limited success. The present research involves a completely new approach to the problem, which is based on the method used in the heat treatment of sapphire to improve its colour. This approach uses a phenomenon involving the modification of the optical properties to improve its absorption of light.