Application of ion beam techniques for preparation of metal ion-implanted TiO2 thin film photocatalyst available under visible light irradiation: metal ion-implantation and ionized cluster beam method.

Transparent TiO2 thin film photocatalysts have been prepared on silica glass plate by an Ionized Cluster Beam (ICB) method. In order to improve the electronic properties of these photocatalysts, transition metal ions (V+, Cr+, Mn+, Fe+) were implanted into the TiO2 thin films at high energy acceleration using an advanced metal ion-implantation technique. The combination of these ion beam techniques can allow us to prepare the TiO2 thin film photocatalysts which can work effectively under visible light (lambda>450 nm) and/or solar light irradiation. The investigation using XAFS and ab initio molecular calculation suggests that the substitution of octahedrally coordinated Ti ions in TiO2 lattice with implanted metal ions is important to modify TiO2 to be able to adsorb visible light and operate under visible light irradiation.