Black TiOx photocatalyst obtained by laser irradiation in water

In this work, we present the synthesis of a nanostructured TiOx film on a Ti foil by using a scalable and environmental friendly methodology such as the laser irradiation in liquid. The obtained black-TiOx film is composed by amorphous titanates and shows a high absorption in both visible and UV range. The introduction of a thin layer of Pt nanoparticles (PtNps) on the rear side of the Ti foil, gave rise to a stacked layered structure (TiOx/Ti/PtNps) that boosted the quantum photocatalytical efficiency, according to ISO 10678:2010. Such enhancement is discussed in terms of hole trapping by surface states and electron scavenging by the Pt Nps. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.