LAUSR

Titanate nanotubes are promising materials for photocatalytic processes due to their large superficial area and possibility of sunlight using. However, due to the large band gap energy, the absorption range of radiation is limited to the ultraviolet (UV) region, corresponding to a small part of the spectrum. Aiming to increase this range, several efforts have been done in order to decrease the band gap energy, for example, by doping with transition metals [1, 2]. Although this process can be efficient in reducing the bandgap energy it also raises the electron/hole (e/h) recombination rate, therefore decreasing its efficiency as a whole. One solution to this problem is the separation of the photogenerated charges immediately after their formation. In this regard, nanostructures consisting of semiconductor with attached nanoparticles show effective results, with the nanoparticles preferentially dragging the e of the e/h pair before the recombination, promoting redox sites [3].