Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of nanostructured titanium monoxide films.

At the present time, the formation of titanium monoxide (TiO x ) two dimensional (2D) species with distinct composition, size, shape, and a significantly reduced bandgap ( E g ) value compared to TiO 2 is of great scientific and practical importance. This paper describes our findings investigating Ti surface oxidation for the formation of TiO x films possessing a densely-packed nanoplatelet morphology and a low bandgap value. This goal was herein achieved by the hydrothermal treatment of the Ti surface in selenious acid solution kept at a slightly alkaline pH. Furthermore, the nanoplatelet design not typical for TiO 2 porous films was created by this method for the first time. The formation of titanium monoxide, particularly TiO 0.84 , as a major crystalline phase, was verified by XRD and confirmed by EPR investigations. It is worth noting that these nanoplatelet-shaped films with a thickness of 0.1-0.25 μm exhibited a very large shift of their light absorption threshold, down to 1.29 eV, compared to the E g of anatase TiO 2 and a surprising 70% porosity determined via simulation of experimental reflection plots. It is anticipated that this unique TiO x nanomaterial will pave the way for new investigations and applications.