Defective Y 2 O 3− x –driven anomalous photocatalytic enhancement using Y 2 O 3− x –TiO 2− x nanorod composite composition spreads

Synergistic photocatalysis is reported, using the optimal amounts of oxygen vacancies of high‐k materials and nanoarchitecture maneuvering by employing a combinatorial sputtering approach. The highlights include (i) the successful fabrication of samples using combinatorial sputtering; (ii) a systematic investigation of the coupling effect between Y 2 O 3− x and TiO 2− x ; (iii) elucidating charge carrier transport through current‐voltage (I‐V) and capacitance‐voltage (C‐V) characterizations; and (iv) providing an alternative application for high‐dielectric constant (high‐k) materials in photocatalysis. The simple yet effective composition spread technique rapidly determined that Sample 6 (4 at% Y 2 O 3− x ‐96 at% TiO 2− x , TiO 2− x ‐rich on the Y 2 O 3− x –TiO 2− x nanorod composite composition spread) exhibited the highest photocatalytic efficiency (i.e., approximately 3.4 times and 1.4 times higher than that of P25 and pure TiO 2− x nanorods, respectively). The predominant factor was determined to be electron migration along defective Y 2 O 3− x nanorods to the sample surface. The extracted mobility was discovered to be an order of magnitude greater than that of pure TiO 2− x . The photoelectrochemical stability and reusability were also demonstrated.