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Supported MOCVD TiO 2 Thin Films Grown on Modified Stainless Steel Mesh for Sensing Applications.

Authors :
El Habra, Naida
Visentin, Francesca
Russo, Francesca
Galenda, Alessandro
Famengo, Alessia
Rancan, Marzio
Losurdo, Maria
Armelao, Lidia
Source :
Nanomaterials (2079-4991); Oct2023, Vol. 13 Issue 19, p2678, 21p
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Among semiconductor metal oxides, that are an important class of sensing materials, titanium dioxide (TiO<subscript>2</subscript>) thin films are widely employed as sensors because of their high chemical and mechanical stability in harsh environments, non-toxicity, eco-compatibility, and photocatalytic properties. TiO<subscript>2</subscript>-based chemical oxygen demand (COD) sensors exploit the photocatalytic properties of TiO<subscript>2</subscript> in inducing the oxidation of organic compounds to CO<subscript>2</subscript>. In this work, we discuss nanostructured TiO<subscript>2</subscript> thin films grown via low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on metallic AISI 316 mesh. To increase the surface sensing area, different inorganic acid-based chemical etching protocols have been developed, determining the optimal experimental conditions for adequate substrate roughness. Both chemically etched pristine meshes and the MOCVD-coated ones have been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We demonstrate that etching by HCl/H<subscript>2</subscript>SO<subscript>4</subscript> at 55 °C provides the most suitable surface morphology. To investigate the behavior of the developed high surface area TiO<subscript>2</subscript> thin films as COD sensors, photocatalytic degradation of functional model pollutants based on ISO 10678:2010 has been tested, showing for the best performing acid-etched mesh coated with polycrystalline TiO<subscript>2</subscript> an increase of 60% in activity, and degrading 66 µmol of MB per square meter per hour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20794991
Volume :
13
Issue :
19
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Nanomaterials (2079-4991)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
172985480
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13192678