Photocatalytic TiO₂/Glass Nanoflake Array Films

Abstract

A new approach for the fabrication of oriented TiO2/glass nanoflake arrays has been developed. The ceramic nanoflake array was formed on a glass substrate via a simple, low temperature, and one-step hydrothermally induced phase separation approach without using any templates or additives. The factors affecting the formation of ceramic nanoflakes were examined by various characterization techniques. The results showed that the leaching of the soluble phase from the glass surface through hydrothermal processes resulted in oriented uniform ceramic nanoflake arrays. Electron microscope observations revealed that the nanoflakes formed a continuous porous three-dimensional-network array with a large surface-to-volume ratio. In addition, an anatase TiO2 film was successfully coated onto the nanoflake array by the sol-gel method. The TiO2/glass nanoflake array exhibited high activity for the photocatalytic degradation of acetone and for photoinduced hydrophilic conversion. Such enhancements were attributed to the beneficial effects of the new continuous porous three-dimensional-interconnected nanoflake network and its surface geometrical nanostructure. The present approach provides a convenient route to modify a photocatalytic coating with a porous nano-architectured substrate. This opens extensive new opportunities in the design of semiconductor/ceramic nanostructural array thin films with unusual properties for future optical and electronic applications.

Interfacial engineering and configuration design of bilayered photoanode consisting of macroporous tin dioxide/titanium dioxide for high performance dye-sensitized solar cells

“…As can be seen from Fig. 11(a), the larger semicircle at intermediate frequency is attributed to charge recombination resistance at the semiconductor/dye/electrolyte interface (R 3 ) [35], which is vital for the photovoltaic performance. It is noteworthy that Cell (II) shows the largest R 3 , indicating the slowest charge recombination in the PSTM film.…”

Preparation of oriented SiO32− doped TiO2 film and degradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation

“…After dried at 373 K, the glass slides were placed in Teflon-lined autoclaves which were filled with deionized water. Then the autoclaves were heated at 448 K for 8 h. After hydrothermal treatment, the glass slides were washed with deionized water several times and dried at 308 K [23]. The SiO 3 2À doped TiO 2 films which were prepared with this modified substrates denoted as SiTiB films.…”

“…2d and f, the film fabricated by modified glass substrate with hydrothermal synthesis displays porous structure and the thickness of the film is about 2 mm. According to Ho et al [23], the chemical composition analysis using energy-dispersive Xray (EDX) spectroscopy illustrates that the film mainly contain Si, O, Ca, Al and Mg, without Na which was instead in the process of hydrothermal synthesis. The SiTiB film (Fig.…”

Preparation of TiO2/Silicalite-2@CoFe2O4 Magnetic Composites and Evaluation of their Photocatalytic Activity in Cr(VI) Removal

“…In previous work, glass (Ho et al 2005), porous ceramics (Teekateerawej et al 2005), and activated carbon (Liu et al 2007) were proposed as supporter to facilitate the separation or recovery of photocatalysts, but the immobilized TiO 2 is still difficult to separate and suffers from low surface areas and difficult distribution inside photo reactors limiting its activity.…”