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The coupling between sub-bandgap defect states and surface plasmon resonances in Au nanoparticles and its effects on the photoconductivity performance of TiO 2 are investigated in both the ultraviolet (UV) and visible spectrum. Incorporating a 2 nm gold nanoparticle layer in the photodetector device architecture creates additional trapping pathways, resulting in a faster current decay under UV illumination and a significant enhancement in the visible photocurrent of TiO 2 , with an 8-fold enhancement of the defects-related photocurrent. We show that hot electron injection (HEI) and plasmonic resonance energy transfer (PRET) jointly contribute to the observed photoconductivity enhancement. In addition to shedding light on the below-band-edge photoconductivity of TiO 2 , our work provides insight into new methods to probe and examine the surface defects of metal oxide semiconductors using plasmonic resonances., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

We report the fabrication of a solution-processed n-type Thin Film Transistor (TFT) with current on/off ratios of 10 4 , a turn-on voltage ( V ON ) of 1.2 V and a threshold voltage ( V T ) of 6.2 V. The TFT incorporates an insoluble and intractable dielectric layer ( k = 7-9) prepared in situ from solution-processed and then photopolymerised ligand-stabilised, inorganic/organic TiO 2 nanorods. A solution processed zinc oxide (ZnO) layer acts as the semiconductor. The new surface-modified TiO 2 nanorods were synthesised using a ligand replacement process with a monolayer coating of photopolymerisable 10-undecynylphosphonic acid (10UCYPA) to render them both soluble in common organic solvents and be photopolymerisable using UV-illumination after having been deposited on substrate surfaces from solution and drying., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

We report the synthesis of the first stable, solution-processable and photocrosslinkable hybrid organic/inorganic titanium dioxide nanorods as 'hairy rods' coated with phosphonate ligands with photoreactive coumarin groups located in a terminal position. The relationships between the chemical structure of the diethyl-ω-[(7-oxycoumaryl)- n -alkyl]phosphonate ligands on the ligand exchange rate (LER) and the solubility of the resultant ligand-stabilized titanium dioxide nanorods in organic solvents are elucidated. These TiO 2 nanorods, with an organic ligand coating, are short enough (aspect ratio = 5-8) to be dissolved in chlorobenzene at high concentrations, but long enough to form lyotropic nematic liquid crystals. These colloidal solutions are used to deposit a thin, uniform layer of hybrid organic/inorganic TiO 2 nanorods with their long axes in the plane of a flat, smooth substrate through a self-organization process. Standard photolithographic patterning creates an insoluble dielectric layer of the desired thickness, smoothness and uniformity and with a dielectric constant of sufficient magnitude, k = 8, suitable for the fabrication of multilayer, plastic electronic devices using solution-based fabrication techniques, such as ink-jet printing, used in roll-to-roll manufacturing., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)