Photoelectrochemical Properties of Annealed Anodic TiO2 Layers Covered with CuOx

Abstract

In this work, we present a systematic study on the influence of Cu2+ ion concentration in the impregnation solution on the morphology, structure, optical, semiconducting, and photoelectrochemical properties of anodic CuOx-TiO2 materials. Studied materials were prepared by immersion in solutions with different concentrations of (CH3COO)2Cu and subjected to air-annealing at 400 °C, 500 °C, or 600 °C for 2 h. The complex characterization of all studied samples was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), reflectance measurements, Mott–Schottky analyses, and photocurrent measurements. It was found that band gap engineering based on coupling CuO with TiO2 (Eg~3.3 eV) is an effective strategy to increase the absorption in visible light due to band gap narrowing (CuOx-TiO2 materials had Eg~2.4 eV). Although the photoactivity of CuO-TiO2 materials decreased in the UV range due to the deposition of CuO on the TiO2 surface, in the Vis range increased up to 600 nm at the same time.

Synthesis and the Visible Light Activity of Anodic CoOx-TiO2 Nanocomposites

“…The obtained photoactivity maps are presented in Figures 7A (TiO Some reports show anodic titanium oxide modified by impregnation and its IPCE activity range. For example, CuO x -TiO 2 materials generate photocurrents in the range of 300−600 nm, 52 while FeO x -TiO 2 generates photocurrents up to 450 nm 16 and after appropriate thermal treatment up to 640 34 nm estimated at polarization of 1 V vs SCE in a 0.1 M KNO 3 solution. To show how the photoconversion efficiency changes as a function of the number of impregnation cycles, the photocurrent densities obtained at 350 and 500 nm for the polarization potential of 1 V vs SCE were collected in Figure 7C.…”

The Solid-State Synthesis of BiOIO3 Nanoplates with Boosted Photocatalytic Degradation Ability for Organic Contaminants

“…In the reaction of photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants, the photocatalyst is the core of the whole technology. As a traditional photocatalytic material, the low separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole of TiO 2 limits its further application [4,5]. Therefore, the development of new photocatalytic materials or the modification of traditional materials has become the focus of current research in the field of photocatalysis.…”