Effect of Moisture on Dopant Segregation in Solid Hosts

Transition metal-doped semiconductor materials are extensively employed for light harvesting and photocatalytic applications owing to their increased light absorption and charge mobility. In this work, spatial tailoring of the Ni dopant in TiO2 nanostructures is performed by varying the secondary processing parameters to engineer the resulting optoelectronic properties for select applications. Specifically, the aging of the dried Ti sol and the resulting Ni segregation are observed to be moisture-driven phenomena based on the infrared and time-resolved UV–vis spectroscopy measurements. While X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with electron energy-loss spectroscopy characterizations show a clear difference in the crystal structures between pristine TiO2 powders and phase-segregated NiO–TiO2, the thermogravimetric measurements reveal substitution of the ethoxy group by ambient moisture, resulting in the ejection of hydroxylated Ni clusters. Furthermore, the doped system could be locked into a metastable state by rapidly annealing the amorphous powders. Finally, the photocatalytic activity of these different TiO2:Ni2+ (15 mol %) nanoparticles under AM 1.5G solar light highlights the relationship between the photocatalytic activity and the dopant position. This ability to spatially control dopants within highly doped materials allows for direct control of specific optoelectronic properties, paramount for photoelectrochemical devices.