Reusable thin film photocatalyst of Fe-doped TiO₂deposited by ECR plasma

Abstract

The paper presents an improved method of depositing nanocrystalline thin films of Fe-doped TiO 2 to be used as a reusable cyclic photocatalyst for degrading the organic pollutants. The technique of electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was employed with titanium tetra-isopropoxide (C 12 H 28 O 4 Ti) and ferrocene (C 10 H 10 Fe) as precursors of Ti and Fe, respectively. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to identify the reactive species, to determine the electron temperature and the ion density during deposition. The films were characterized using optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra, whereas the morphological analysis was carried out with scanning electron microscopy. Strong adhesion of the deposited films with the substrate ruled out any possibility of TiO 2 particles being leached out. It was confirmed by observing the degradation rate of the same film repeatedly. Cyclic use of the film for the catalytic reactions thus makes the process much user friendly for the water treatment.

Photocatalytic activity of Al/Ni-doped TiO2 films synthesized by sol-gel method: Effect of sunlight photocatalysis on the catalysts properties

“…This result suggests that using the samples for a second photocatalytic cycle may give less photodegradation rate than the first cycle. Bansode et al [49] reused the Fe doped TiO2 thin films for three cycles as MB bleaching photocatalysts under UV light, and found that the nature of degradation remains unaltered.…”

Structural and morphological tuning of iron oxide polymorphs by ECR plasma-assisted thermal oxidation

“…15 Appropriately biased hollow cathodic cylinders of Zn 16 and Mo 17 were introduced individually into ECR plasma to obtain oxide nanostructures and these nanostructures were further used for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies. The ECR plasma source was used for the thin lm deposition of Ti and Fe-doped Ti, 18 as well as the surface modication of biocompatible polymers like poly(etherimide), 19 suitable for tissue engineering applications.…”