Visible-light photocatalytic activity of TiO x N y thin films obtained by reactive multi-pulse High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Reactive High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering operated in multi-pulse mode (m-HiPIMS) of a pure Ti target in Ar/N 2 /O 2 gas mixture (mass flow rates of 50, 2 and 0.16 sccm, respectively) has been used for the deposition of titanium oxynitride (TiO x N y) thin films with variable content of nitrogen (from 0.6 at.% to 24.2 at.%). Increase of the nitrogen content in the deposited TiO x N y thin films determined a decrease of the optical bandgap energy and a corresponding increase of visible light adsorption. The photocatalytic activity for water molecule splitting of the films deposited on metallic substrate, which were used as the photo-anode in an electrochemical cell, has been investigated by measurements of photoelectrochemical current intensity versus biasing voltage during on/off cycles of visible light irradiation (sun light simulated by a xenon lamp). The as-deposited films have a short range order corresponding to rutile and anatase structures and showed very weak photocatalytic activity and chemical instability in the electrolyte of the photoelectrochemical cell. However, a post-deposition annealing treatment of the film with low content of nitrogen (0.6 at.%) improved considerably the visible-light photocatalytic activity, the film crystalline order and chemical stability.

Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Titanium Oxynitride (TiOxNy) Thin Films and Their Neuromorphic Applications

“…High-resolution XPS survey of various plasma powerdeposited TiO x N y thin films, thickness of the TiO x N y films prepared at various plasma powers (8,20,33…”

“…Titanium oxynitride (TiO x N y ) is an important material system, which has intermediate properties of highly conducting nitride (TiN) and highly insulating properties of TiO 2 . 32 TiO x N y has been studied recently in applications such as photocatalysis, 33 nanophotonics, 34 multilayer photovoltaics, 35 etc. In addition, nitride-based materials have better chemical compatibility with the bottom nitride electrode used in several devices.…”

Indium-tin oxide regulated band gap of nitrogen-doped titanium oxide thin films for visible light photocatalyst

“…For coating, 3 × 10 2 mbar pressure was maintained with the power of 90 W (current = 0.280A, Voltage = ~ 321 V). Argon, oxygen, and nitrogen gases were introduced to the system with the quantity of 28, 21 Sccm, and 6 Sccm respectively [27][28][29].…”

Influence of regulated modification of nitride layer by oxygen on the electrochemical behavior of Ti–6Al–4V alloy in the Ringer's solution

“…Titanium oxynitrides have gained increasing importance in various applications due to their enormous physical and chemical properties that exceed the properties of titanium nitrides (hardness and wear resistance) and oxides (optical properties and chemical stability) . The TiN x O y application depends on the nitrogen to oxygen (N/О) ratio: nitrogen‐rich films are used as antireflective coatings or biomaterials while oxygen‐rich ones are applied for thin film resistors or solar selective collectors .…”