BibTex format
@article{Alimard:2026:10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939,
author = {Alimard, P and Li, L and Cazaly, S and Eisner, F and Tam, B and Kafizas, A},
doi = {10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939},
journal = {Carbon},
title = {A scalable route to mixed and layered sandwich-structured carbonaceous–anatase TiO2 coatings with bi-functional photocatalytic activity for air pollution remediation and solar water splitting},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939},
volume = {246},
year = {2026}
}
RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)
TY - JOUR
AB - This study showcases how carbonaceous materials, including graphene (G), fullerene (F), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), can be integrated within titanium dioxide (TiO2) films as either: (i) mixed or (ii) layered sandwich structures (TiO2/carbonaceous material/TiO2) and show bifunctional photocatalytic activity. Our composites are engineered to address both NOx pollution and water splitting within the same platform. In the mixed composite (TGmix), graphene's high conductivity and electron-accepting ability enhance the photo-oxidation of NOx, where under UVA light 17.6 % NO and 9.6 % total NOx removal was seen, which was significantly higher than TiO2 alone, which showed 6.8 % NO and 1.3 % total NOx removal. Whereas in the sandwich-layered composite (TGT), the architecture promotes hole accumulation on the surface, favouring water splitting, with incident-photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) reaching 68 % at 1.23 VRHE (pH = 7) under 250 nm illumination; a factor of ∼2 increase compared to TiO2 alone. Transient photocurrent (TPC) and diffuse reflectance transient absorption spectroscopy (DR-TAS) were employed operando to probe the kinetics of electron extraction and hole-mediated water oxidation. At 1.23 VRHE, the TGT sample showed slightly faster electron extract kinetics to T (TGT: t50 %–0.25 ms and T: t50 %–0.268 ms), along with a significantly higher long-lived hole carrier population that drove water oxidation, which were found to linearly correlate with the observed photocurrent density.Our wholistic study, including in operando investigations, informs the rational design of active carbonaceous composite coatings within anatase TiO2 that can be grown at scale for applications in NOx air pollution remediation and solar water splitting.
AU - Alimard,P
AU - Li,L
AU - Cazaly,S
AU - Eisner,F
AU - Tam,B
AU - Kafizas,A
DO - 10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939
PY - 2026///
SN - 0008-6223
TI - A scalable route to mixed and layered sandwich-structured carbonaceous–anatase TiO2 coatings with bi-functional photocatalytic activity for air pollution remediation and solar water splitting
T2 - Carbon
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2025.120939
VL - 246
ER -