Titanium dioxide (TiO2) loaded with gold (Au) as noble metal, acts as
an efficient photocatalyst that has been extensively investigated for water
splitting processes. In this paper, we report on the microstructure of atomic
layer deposited titanium dioxide and the crystallinity modification of the
material using energetic electron beam irradiation. A rapid high-energy electron
beam induced crystallization of the nanostructures has been observed
in-situ inside a High-Resolution Transmission Electron
Microscope (HRTEM). The systematic crystallization of the nanomaterial occurring
under the electron beam irradiation (300 KV) indicates the transformation of the
near amorphous material into a mixture of two nuances of TiO2
polymorphs, namely rutile and anatase. We believe that this transformation will
enhance the efficiency of water splitting process, as the mixed phases of rutile
and anatase are known to possess better optical properties than the individual
polymorphs of TiO2. This finding may be of particular interest in
developing appropriate heat treatment methods for these nanostructures dedicated
to water splitting to increase their efficiency.