Disorder modification and photocatalytic activity enhancement of TiO2 nanocrystals through ultrasonic hydroxylation

Abstract Disorder modification of TiO 2 nanocrystals (NCs) has been proved to enhance the photocatalytic activity through surface defects and band-gap narrowing. In this contribution, we used a facile way of ultrasonic irradiation to induce the hydroxyls injection into TiO 2 (P25) crystal lattice, which obtained disordered TiO 2 NCs. In order to improve the degree of ultrasonic-induced disorder, extension of ultrasonic time or increasing alkalinity was necessary, which continuously regulated the energy band structure of TiO 2 and could at most improve the solar-driven photocatalytic activity for 2.33 times than original P25 NCs.