PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR AND XPS CHARACTERIZATION OF A (TI,AL,V)O2 FILM OBTAINED BY NON-COVENTIONAL ANODIC-OXIDATION OF A COMMERCIAL TI-AL-V ALLOY

With the aim to improve the photoelectrochemical behavior and to reduce the optical band gap of TiO//2 without sacrificing its stability, special n-type (Ti, Al, V)O//2 films have been prepared by anodically oxidizing a commercial titanium alloy following a non-conventional technique. Such alloy contained 6 w/o aluminum and 4 w/o vanadium. The spectral response of (Ti, Al, V)O//2 was dramatically shifted toward the visible region with respect to the response of the parent TiO//2, the band-gap energy being about 2 V. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics have also been examined, and the flat-band potential determined both from the photocurrent onset potential and from the material bulk electronegativity.