Photocatalysts are an essential component of hydrogen production through water-splitting. Scientists at Shinshu University and Georgia Institute of Technology worked on improving a titania surface study previously published in 2020. Hydrophilicity of the surface of titania photocatalysts is improved during ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. It has long been predicted that basic surface hydroxyl groups are generated on the titania photocatalyst surface when irradiated with UV light, which can be the origin of the light-induced hydrophilicity. However, the amount of the light-induced surface hydroxyl groups was small and it was difficult to observe with the sensitivity of the conventional method.
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Source: Phys.org