Solvothermal Synthesis, Gas‐Sensing Properties, and Solar Cell‐Aided Investigation of TiO₂–MoO_x Nanocrystals

Abstract Titania anatase nanocrystals were prepared by sol‐gel/solvothermal synthesis in oleic acid at 250 °C, and modified by co‐reaction with Mo chloroalkoxide, aimed at investigating the effects on gas‐sensing properties induced by tailored nanocrystals surface modification with ultra‐thin layers of MoO_x species. For the lowest Mo concentration, only anatase nanocrystals were obtained, surface modified by a disordered ultra‐thin layer of mainly octahedral Mo^VI oxide species. For larger Mo concentrations, early MoO₂ phase segregation occurred. Upon heat treatment up to 500 °C, the sample with the lowest Mo concentration did not feature any Mo oxide phase segregation, and the surface Mo layer was converted to dense octahedral Mo^VI oxide. At larger Mo concentrations all segregated MoO₂ was converted to MoO₃. The two different materials typologies, depending on the Mo concentration, were used for processing gas‐sensing devices and tested toward acetone and carbon monoxide, which gave a greatly enhanced response, for all Mo concentrations, to acetone (two orders of magnitude) and carbon monoxide with respect to pure TiO₂. For the lowest Mo concentration, dye‐sensitized solar cells were also prepared to investigate the influence of anatase surface modification on the electrical transport properties, which showed that the charge transport mainly occurred in the ultra‐thin MoO_x surface layer.