Raveling the Role of Dopants on Charge Carrier Kinetics of TiO$_2$ Electrodes using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Abstract

We synthesized the pure and co-doped titanium dioxide (TiO$_2$) electrodes via spin coating. We examined the optical and electronic properties of as-prepared thin film electrodes with co-doping of transition metals and non-metals. The co-doping of Cu, Zn, and N increase the absorption of the radiation in the visible region. The doping leads to the formation of defect states in the electrodes. In this article, we have studied the carrier kinetics in pristine and co-doped TiO2 electrodes. To study the role of dopants in carrier transport of the synthesized TiO2 based electrodes, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement is performed in the frequency range of 10-1 Hz to 106 Hz. The study reveals the influence of dopants on electron-hole recombination in the defect sites present in bulk and the transport mechanism of the electrons and ions to the surface/interface of the electrodes.