Enabling higher photoelectrochemical efficiency of TiO2via controlled formation of a disordered shell: an alternative to the hydrogenation process.

A simple one-step and low-temperature process was developed to form an amorphous overlayer on the crystalline TiO2 film by atomic layer deposition. This composite structure is beneficial for improved photoelectrochemical efficiency since the as-deposited amorphous layer showed unique properties such as local disorder and presence of oxygen vacancies.