Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• bacteria, including resistant E. coli and S. aureus strains, and when compared to commercial TiO2 nanoparticles, CSTiO2 nanospheres exhibited superior performance. In addition, the positive effect of UV irradiation on the antimicrobial activity was demonstrated. Keywords: antimicrobial nanoparticles

• -positive and Gram-negative bacteria [2]. In recent years, metal and metal oxide NPs, such as silver, gold, titanium and zinc oxide NPs, have been extensively studied due to their interesting antimicrobial character [3][4][5]. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) NPs have also attracted significant attention due to

• their high stability, low cost, reusability, and high photocatalytic activity [6][7][8]. These excellent properties have been applied in many products such as foods, catalyst support, air purification, water disinfection, antibacterial, cosmetics and solar cells [9][10]. Photocatalytic TiO2 favors the

Layered double hydroxide/sepiolite hybrid nanoarchitectures for the controlled release of herbicides

• Ediana Paula Rebitski,
• Margarita Darder and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1679–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.163

• used strategies included wet impregnation and layer-by-layer approaches to produce diverse type of multilayer heterostructures, e.g., ZnCr-LDH/TiO2 films [30], in situ formation of the LDH in presence of other nanoparticles, e.g., sepiolite [31], and reconstruction of the LDH from parent “layered

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• show the properties of a bulk-like crystalline rock-salt TiO phase, unlike previous studies on the crystallography and electronic structure of TiO, which were based on defective thin films formed on various surfaces, e.g., TiC(100) [23] or TiO2(110) [24]. γ-TiO is the high-temperature phase with a NaCl

• the differences between TiO2 and SrO terminations of SrTiO3(100). The last part of the study is dedicated to the discussion of the work function response of both TiO and SrTiO3 surfaces upon oxidation via ambient air exposure, in order to provide insight into the effect of oxygen, water, and carbon

• TiO2, which both are present on the pristine surface, although TiO2 is more stable [39]. When annealed under reducing conditions, the TiO2 termination is promoted. Upon heavy reduction, there is further oxygen depletion which results in the formation of the (√5×√5)R26.6° reconstruction, which we

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• Abstract A BiOCl/TiO2/diatomite (BTD) composite was synthesized via a modified sol–gel method and precipitation/calcination method for application as a photocatalyst and shows promise for degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater upon visible-light irradiation. In the composite, diatomite was used as

• a carrier to support a layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) nanosheets. The results show that TiO2 nanoparticles and BiOCl nanosheets uniformly cover the surface of diatomite and bring TiO2 and BiOCl into close proximity. Rhodamine B was used as the target

• degradation product and visible light (λ > 400 nm) was used as the light source for the evaluation of the photocatalytic properties of the prepared BTD composite. The results show that the catalytic performance of the BTD composite under visible-light irradiation is much higher than that of TiO2 or BiOCl

Imaging the surface potential at the steps on the rutile TiO₂(110) surface by Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Huan Fei Wen,
• Quanzhen Zhang,
• Yuuki Adachi,
• Jan Brndiar,
• Ivan Štich,
• Yan Jun Li and
• Yasuhiro Sugawara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1228–1236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.122

• , Bratislava, Slovakia 10.3762/bjnano.10.122 Abstract Although step structures have generally been considered to be active sites, their role on a TiO2 surface in catalytic reactions is poorly understood. In this study, we measured the contact potential difference around the steps on a rutile TiO2(110)-(1 × 1

• steps in the catalytic reaction. Keywords: catalyst; Kelvin probe force microscopy; Smoluchowski effect; step; titanium dioxide; Introduction Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has attracted considerable interest for its promising applications as a photocatalyst and as catalyst support, as well as in gas sensors

• [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The catalytic activity can be enhanced by the presence of defects, such as oxygen vacancies (Ov), Ti interstitials (Tiint) [8], and crystal steps. TiO2 is an n-type semiconductor because of these defects. In addition, reactive oxygen species, such as OH and H2O2 (compounds with

Photoactive nanoarchitectures based on clays incorporating TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles

• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky,
• Pilar Aranda,
• Marwa Akkari,
• Nithima Khaorapapong and
• Makoto Ogawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1140–1156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.114

• ; nanoarchitectures; photocatalysts; titanium dioxide; zinc dioxide; Review Introduction: immobilization of nanoscale TiO2 and ZnO on clay minerals Nanoarchitectonics is a term coined by Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), which refers to the nanoscale design of complex materials through a deep

• silicates showing diverse structural arrangements and morphologies (Figure 1) with topologies able to accommodate a variety of NPs of semiconductors such as TiO2 and ZnO. TiO2 and, to a minor extent, ZnO NPs in the form of anatase and wurtzite phases (Figure 1E and 1F, respectively), are semiconducting

• are more efficient as photocatalysts than the corresponding bulk TiO2 and ZnO powders when they are present as NPs. This fact could be simply explained by the fact that the smaller particles normally have a larger surface-to-volume ratio. Many studies have focused on the photocatalytic activities of

Revisiting semicontinuous silver films as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates

• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Małgorzata Norek,
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz and
• Piotr Nyga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1048–1055, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.105

• -structured surfaces made of glass [25][26], GaN [27][28][29], Si [30], TiO2 [31], Al2O3 [32], Ti [33], polymers [34], or planar surfaces coated with nano/microspheres resulting in metal film on nanospheres MFON [35][36], and Au nanocrescents on a monolayer of polystyrene nanospheres [37]. Additionally

Tailoring the stability/aggregation of one-dimensional TiO₂(B)/titanate nanowires using surfactants

• Atiđa Selmani,
• Johannes Lützenkirchen,
• Kristina Kučanda,
• Dario Dabić,
• Engelbert Redel,
• Ida Delač Marion,
• Damir Kralj,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin and
• Maja Dutour Sikirić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1024–1037, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.103

• Zagreb, Croatia 10.3762/bjnano.10.103 Abstract The increased utilization of one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 and titanate nanowires (TNWs) in various applications was the motivation behind studying their stability in this work, given that stability greatly influences both the success of the application and the

• . Keywords: 1D nanomaterials; cationic surfactants; stability; surface complexation model; titanate nanowires; Introduction Among the extensive variety of metal oxide nanomaterials, titanium dioxide nanomaterials (TNMs) (e.g., anatase, rutile, TiO2(B) and titanate) have attracted considerable attention

• different solution and interfacial behavior compared to corresponding conventional monomeric surfactants [32][33][34]. The interaction of gemini surfactants with solid (nano)surfaces such as clay [35], calcium phosphate [36], silica [37][38][39][40], TiO2 [41], ZnO [42] and carbon NTs [43] have been

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• in cells that had been exposed to either PCL- or PLLA-NPs with PLLA-NPs eliciting a slightly more prominent effect. Compared to this, TiO2-NPs caused increases in phosphorylation of Akt and all three MAPKs followed by activation of NF-κB [36]. Guo et al. demonstrated that Si-NP exposure induced

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

• semiconductor TiO2 has become one of the most extensively studied metal oxides, especially in the context of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) [1]. The working principle of an n-type DSSC, which is shown in Figure 1a, relies on the functionalization of TiO2 surfaces with dye molecules enabling the absorption of

• ) of the semiconductor [2]. This charge transfer, which occurs from the dye molecules towards the surface of the semiconductor, offers the possibility of designing specific hybrid devices with photoactive anodes consisting of functionalized TiO2. In contrast to TiO2 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], wide

Rapid, ultraviolet-induced, reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic surfaces

• Yunlu Pan,
• Wenting Kong,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 866–873, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.87

• switching and extreme wettability changes upon ultraviolet (UV) illumination were investigated. TiO2 nanoparticles were modified in solutions of trimethoxy(alkyl)silane, and the suspensions were sprayed on glass substrates. For such samples, the water contact angle (WCA) was shown to transition from a

• illumination can be confirmed. It was found that the presence of trimethoxy(alkyl)silane in the TiO2–trimethoxy(alkyl)silane coating served to speed up the super-wettability transition time from superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity, but also limited the number of wettability recycle times. With this

• understanding, the effect of the trimethoxy(alkyl)silane concentration on the number of recycle cycles was investigated. Keywords: superhydrophilic surfaces; superhydrophobic surfaces; switchable wettability; TiO2; trimethoxy(alkyl)silane; UV illumination; Introduction Wettability is an important property of

Synthesis of MnO₂–CuO–Fe₂O₃/CNTs catalysts: low-temperature SCR activity and formation mechanism

• Yanbing Zhang,
• Lihua Liu,
• Yingzan Chen,
• Xianglong Cheng,
• Chengjian Song,
• Mingjie Ding and
• Haipeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 848–855, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.85

• , the catalyst of the SCR reaction, V2O5+WO3(MoO3)/TiO2, has some drawbacks, such as the toxic V-based material and the high operating temperature window (300–400 °C) [6][7][8]. Additionally, this kind of catalyst is easily influenced by ash and SO2, which makes it necessary to be installed downstream

Novel reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic surfaces induced by charge injection and heating

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Junwen Hou and
• Dongbao Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 840–847, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.84

• for converting superhydrophobic surfaces into superhydrophilic surfaces after only 10 min of ultraviolet irradiation. Gao et al. [6] prepared 18 alkyltrichlorosilane-modified TiO2 films for the reversible switching between superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity of a wood surface. Feng et al. [7

• angle of 0°), and the reverse process took only 30 s. Esmeryan et al. [12] revealed collapsed superhydrophobicity and conversion to superhydrophilicity upon thermal annealing of the coating at temperatures above 300 °C. Lai et al. [13] prepared a uniform and stable TiO2-based nanoband film by

• electrophoretic deposition. The transformation of hydrogen titanate to porous TiO2 (B) and anatase-type TiO2 completed the superhydrophilic–superhydrophobic transition but the process was unidirectional and irreversible. Jiang et al. [14] prepared cotton fabrics by a three-step method that comprised cotton

An efficient electrode material for high performance solid-state hybrid supercapacitors based on a Cu/CuO/porous carbon nanofiber/TiO₂ hybrid composite

• Mamta Sham Lal,
• Thirugnanam Lavanya and
• Sundara Ramaprabhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 781–793, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.78

• carbon nanofiber/TiO2 (Cu/CuO/PCNF/TiO2) composite uniformly covered with TiO2 nanoparticles was synthesized by electrospinning and a simple hydrothermal technique. The synthesized composite exhibits a unique morphology and excellent supercapacitive performance, including both electric double layer and

• pseudo-capacitance behavior. Electrochemical measurements were performed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The highest specific capacitance value of 530 F g−1 at a current density of 1.5 A g−1 was obtained for the Cu/CuO/PCNF/TiO2 composite

• nanoparticles, which together open up new opportunities for energy storage and conversion applications. Keywords: composite; electrochemical performance; porous carbon nanofiber; solid-state hybrid supercapacitor; supercapacitor; TiO2 nanoparticles; Introduction To meet the rapidly growing demand for energy

On the transformation of “zincone”-like into porous ZnO thin films from sub-saturated plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition

• Alberto Perrotta,
• Julian Pilz,
• Stefan Pachmajer,
• Antonella Milella and
• Anna Maria Coclite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 746–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.74

• ZnO [15][16]. Liang et al. [15] reported on the transformation of zincones deposited on TiO2 nanoparticles into porous ZnO via thermal treatment in the presence of air. Low surface area and wide pore size distribution (in the micropore and mesopore size range) were achieved. The surface area and the

• an inhibition of the crystal formation in the resulting TiO2 layers, and the authors attributed this to the amorphous titania being constrained in the organic matrix. As a consequence, an investigation of the crystallinity of Zn-alkoxide layers would shed a light on the evolution of the ZnO crystals

• different methods in the annealing temperature range of 350–450 °C [62][68][69][70][71][72][73]. For the pyrolysis of titanicone, a shift towards higher crystallization temperatures for TiO2 was reported by Abdulagatov et al. [11] due to hindrance of crystallization by organic ligands constraining amorphous

A porous 3D-RGO@MWCNT hybrid material as Li–S battery cathode

• Yongguang Zhang,
• Jun Ren,
• Yan Zhao,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Fuxing Yin and
• Yichao Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.52

• sulfur loading is essential for the practical implementation of Li–S batteries [5][6][7]. To overcome the above-mentioned challenges in Li–S batteries, many strategies have been proposed [8][9][10][11][12]. For example, metal oxides, such as TiO2, ZnO, MnO2, and SiO2, were reported to provide active

Widening of the electroactivity potential range by composite formation – capacitive properties of TiO₂/BiVO₄/PEDOT:PSS electrodes in contact with an aqueous electrolyte

• Konrad Trzciński,
• Mariusz Szkoda,
• Andrzej P. Nowak,
• Marcin Łapiński and
• Anna Lisowska-Oleksiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 483–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.49

• , Poland 10.3762/bjnano.10.49 Abstract Composites based on the titania nanotubes were tested in aqueous electrolyte as a potential electrode material for energy storage devices. The nanotubular morphology of TiO2 was obtained by Ti anodization. TiO2 nanotubes were covered by a thin layer of bismuth

• vanadate using pulsed laser deposition. The formation of the TiO2/BiVO4 junction leads to enhancement of pseudocapacitance in the cathodic potential range. The third component, the conjugated polymer PEDOT:PSS, was electrodeposited from an electrolyte containing the monomer EDOT and NaPSS as a source of

• –inorganic composites with TiO2 [18][19], organic–inorganic hybrids consisting of a conducting polymer and Prussian blue analogues [20], or composites with carbon nanomaterials [21]. Tuning of the electrochemical activity of supercapacitors can also be achieved via electrolyte modification. The addition of

Reduced graphene oxide supported C₃N₄ nanoflakes and quantum dots as metal-free catalysts for visible light assisted CO₂ reduction

• Md Rakibuddin and
• Haekyoung Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 448–458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.44

• , and CH3OH is one of the sustainable ways to address the issues of both global warming and the energy crisis [1][2][3][4][5][6]. So far, a variety of semiconductor photocatalysts, such as ZnO, TiO2, WO3, and CdS have been developed for the photoreduction of CO2 [7][8][9][10]. However, poor separation

Gold nanoparticles embedded in a polymer as a 3D-printable dichroic nanocomposite material

• Lars Kool,
• Anton Bunschoten,
• Aldrik H. Velders and
• Vittorio Saggiomo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 442–447, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.43

• modifying 3D-printable plastics with, for example, catalysts [11] or TiO2 nanoparticles [12] to obtain new improved materials with special characteristics. In this paper, we show how to fabricate a 3D-printable dichroic material using gold nanoparticles, jumping from the 4th century Roman glassmiths

Advanced scanning probe lithography using anatase-to-rutile transition to create localized TiO₂ nanorods

• Julian Kalb,
• Vanessa Knittel and
• Lukas Schmidt-Mende

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 412–418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.40

• Julian Kalb Vanessa Knittel Lukas Schmidt-Mende Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.10.40 Abstract In this article, we demonstrate the position-controlled hydrothermal growth of rutile TiO2 nanorods using a new scanning

• probe lithography method in which a silicon tip, commonly used for atomic force microscopy, was pulled across an anatase TiO2 film. This process scratches the film causing tiny anatase TiO2 nanoparticles to form on the surface. According to previous reports, these anatase particles convert into rutile

• nanocrystals and provide the growth of rutile TiO2 nanorods in well-defined areas. Due to the small tip radius, the resolution of this method is excellent and the method is quite inexpensive compared to electron-beam lithography and similar methods providing a position-controlled growth of semiconducting TiO2

Biocompatible organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on nucleobases and titanium developed by molecular layer deposition

• Leva Momtazi,
• Henrik H. Sønsteby and
• Ola Nilsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 399–411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.39

• , confirming the hybrid nature of the as-deposited films with an amorphous structure where partial inclusion of the TTIP molecule occurs during growth. The films are highly hydrophilic, while the nucleobases do leach in water providing an amorphous structure mainly of TiO2 with reduced density and index of

• 2.19 over the temperature range of 225 to 350 °C. The density of all the systems increased with deposition temperature from roughly 1.7 g cm−3 at 225 °C to 2.3 g cm−3 at 350 °C. For comparison, the refractive index and density of anatase TiO2 films deposited at 225 °C is 2.36 and 3.78 g cm−3

• , indicating that the film is converted towards TiO2 and either excess TIP-ligands and/or nucleobases is lost from the film. All of these observations point towards the fact that the adenine system produces a relatively stable complex containing both TIP ligands and adenine. This complex is sufficiently stable

Integration of LaMnO_3+δ films on platinized silicon substrates for resistive switching applications by PI-MOCVD

• Raquel Rodriguez-Lamas,
• Dolors Pla,
• Odette Chaix-Pluchery,
• Benjamin Meunier,
• Fabrice Wilhelm,
• Andrei Rogalev,
• Laetitia Rapenne,
• Xavier Mescot,
• Quentin Rafhay,
• Hervé Roussel,
• Michel Boudard,
• Carmen Jiménez and
• Mónica Burriel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 389–398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.38

• functions of electrode and active material, creating an ohmic contact or a Schottky barrier. Furthermore, some electrodes can be oxidized forming a new interface layer that can also act as oxygen reservoir (e.g., Ti, TiO2) [20][21][22]. The use of Pt as bottom electrode in our LMO-based devices guarantees

• , maximizing the flux of carried precursor. The deposition temperature inside the main chamber (a hot-wall quartz reactor heated by an external furnace) ranged from 500 to 750 °C. The substrates used were 1 cm × 1 cm chips cut from a Pt (150 nm)/TiO2 (40 nm)/SiO2 (500 nm)/Si (111) wafer (VinKarola Instruments

One-step nonhydrolytic sol–gel synthesis of mesoporous TiO₂ phosphonate hybrid materials

• Yanhui Wang,
• P. Hubert Mutin and
• Johan G. Alauzun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 356–362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.35

• Yanhui Wang P. Hubert Mutin Johan G. Alauzun Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, UMR 5253, Université de Montpellier, CC 1701, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 10.3762/bjnano.10.35 Abstract Mesoporous TiO2–octylphosphonate hybrid materials were prepared in one step by

• with the P/Ti ratio, leading to an increase of the specific surface area and a decrease of the pore size of the hybrid samples. For a P/Ti ratio of 0.2, the volume fraction of organic octyl groups exceeds 50%. The hybrid material becomes nonporous and can be described as amorphous TiO2 clusters

• with 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene [32]. The reaction of alkoxides in acetophenone (used as a solvent and an oxygen donor) has already been described for the synthesis of TiO2 [33] and BaTiO3 [34] nanoparticles, but it has never been used to prepare mesoporous oxides or hybrid materials. In the present work

Interaction of Te and Se interlayers with Ag or Au nanofilms in sandwich structures

• Arkadiusz Ciesielski,
• Lukasz Skowronski,
• Marek Trzcinski,
• Ewa Górecka,
• Wojciech Pacuski and
• Tomasz Szoplik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 238–246, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.22

• Knudsen cell was kept at working temperature [39]. SiO2, Ag and Au, LiF layers were deposited from fabmate or tungsten crucibles using a PVD75 Lesker e-beam evaporator. The purity of the evaporation materials was 4N for both silver and gold, 5N for SiO2 and TIO2, 3N for LiF. SiO2 was evaporated at an

Uniform Sb₂S₃ optical coatings by chemical spray method

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 198–210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.18

• uniform thickness. First, amorphous Sb2S3 layers, likely forming by 3D Volmer–Weber island growth through a molten phase reaction between SbCl3 and SC(NH2)2, were deposited in air on a glass/ITO/TiO2 substrate by ultrasonic spraying of methanolic Sb/S 1:3 molar ratio solution at 200–210 °C. Second, we

• Sb2S3 layers and presented the first planar TiO2/Sb2S3/P3HT solar cells comprising ultrasonically sprayed Sb2S3 (power conversion efficiency η ≤ 1.9%) [12]. SbCl3 and thiourea (SC(NH2)2) are often used in the field to deposit Sb2S3 thin films. Spraying the SbCl3/SC(NH2)2 (henceforth Sb/S) 1:6 molar

• ratio solution at 250 °C in air yielded separate Sb2S3 grains, which did not cover the TiO2 substrate entirely, whereas spraying the Sb/S 1:3 solution yielded an inhomogeneous mix of amorphous and polycrystalline Sb2S3 [12]. We learned to produce continuous uniform layers of polycrystalline Sb2S3 by a