Search

The photocatalytic activity of an amorphous titanium oxide (a-TiOx) film was modified using a two-step deposition. The fluorinated base layer with a nano-textured surface prepared by a selective fluorination etching process acted as growth seeds in the subsequent a-TiOx deposition. A nanorod-like microstructure was achievable from the resulting a-TiOx film due to the self-assembled deposition. Compared to the a-TiOx film directly deposited onto the untreated base layer, the rate constant of this fluorinate-free a-TiOx film surface for decomposing methylene blue (MB) solution that was employed to assess the film's photocatalytic activity was markedly increased from 0.0076 min-1 to 0.0267 min-1 as a mechanism for the marked increase in the specific surface area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study achieved a nanocomposite structure of nickel oxide (NiO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) heterojunction on a TiO2 film surface. The photocatalytic activity of this structure evaluated by decomposing methylene blue (MB) solution was strongly correlated to the conductive behavior of the NiO film. A p-type NiO film of high concentration in contact with the native n-type TiO2 film, which resulted in a strong inner electrical field to effectively separate the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, exhibited a much better photocatalytic activity than the controlled TiO2 film. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of the NiO/TiO2 nanocomposite structure was enhanced as the thickness of the p-NiO film decreased, which was beneficial for the migration of the photogenerated carriers to the structural surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]