A new method is developed to produce mesoporous titania thin films at room temperature using the enzyme papain in a dip-coating procedure, providing low-cost titania films in a sustainable manner. Quartz crystal microbalance, positron annihilation Doppler broadening and lifetime spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction are used to determine the deposition and structural properties of the films. As-deposited films have low densities ρ ≈ 0.6 g cm⁻³, contain small micropores and proteins, and exhibit corrugated surfaces. Annealing at temperatures of 300 °C or higher leads to the destruction and evaporation of most of the organic material, resulting in a thickness decrease of 50–60%, more pure titania films with increased density, an increase in micropore size and a decrease in the concentration and size of atomic-scale vacancies. Up to 50 layers could be stacked, allowing easy control over the total layer thickness. Based on these titania films, first test devices consisting of natural dye-sensitized solar cells are produced, that show photovoltaic activity and indicate possibilities for low-cost, accessible, organic production of solar cells. Given the wide range of other applications for titania, this new method is a promising candidate for improving the fabrication of those products with respect to cost, sustainability, and production speed.

Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy depth profiles were collected on photochromic YO_xH_y thin films. In situ UV illumination of photochromic semiconductor YO_xH_y films leads to an increase in S-parameter and a large reduction in W-parameter, possibly caused by a change in the charge state of vacancies or the growth of hydrogen-rich metallic Y(O_x)H_y clusters, albeit that vacancy formation or changes in positronium formation during illumination might also play a role. Intriguingly, both the S- and W-parameters increase during thermal bleaching, indicating that another process takes place. The Doppler parameters do not return to their initial values after complete thermal bleaching, suggesting that persistent local rearrangements of vacancies and possibly hydride ions have occurred during the full photodarkening-thermal bleaching cycle. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy shows that a small fraction of positronium is formed in as-deposited YO_xH_y films, indicating that the films contain some nanopores.

Previous studies have shown that positron-annihilation spectroscopy is a highly sensitive probe of the electronic structure and surface composition of ligand-capped semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) embedded in thin films. The nature of the associated positron state, however, whether the positron is confined inside the QDs or localized at their surfaces, has so far remained unresolved. Our positron-annihilation lifetime spectroscopy studies of CdSe QDs reveal the presence of a strong lifetime component in the narrow range of 358-371 ps, indicating abundant trapping and annihilation of positrons at the surfaces of the QDs. Furthermore, our ab initio calculations of the positron wave function and lifetime employing a recent formulation of the weighted density approximation demonstrate the presence of a positron surface state and predict positron lifetimes close to experimental values. Our study thus resolves the long-standing question regarding the nature of the positron state in semiconductor QDs and opens the way to extract quantitative information on surface composition and ligand-surface interactions of colloidal semiconductor QDs through highly sensitive positron-annihilation techniques.