Abstract
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely used, studied, and synthesized using different methodologies. By a modification of the material, it can be applied to wastewater treatment. A combined sputtering-laser ablation setup was used to deposit TiO2 thin films modified, individually and simultaneously, with gold (Au) and silver (Ag). To investigate the effect of the metal incorporation in titanium and its impact on the photocatalytic activity, with dye discoloration as a pollutant compound model, the deposited films were characterized by UV–Vis, photoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopies, as well as by parallel beam X-ray diffraction. The results showed that films with different Au and Ag loads, and an 18 nm average crystallite size, were obtained. These metals have an essential effect on the deposited film’s compositional, structural, and optical properties, directly reflected in its photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic test results using UV-Vis showed that, after 1 h of applying a 4.8 V electric voltage, a discoloration of up to 80% of malachite green (MG) was achieved, using ultraviolet (UV) light.
Highlights
The preparation of thin films using plasma-based deposition systems represents an innovative route to prepare materials on a nanometric scale, with potential applications in different scientific research fields, such as renewable energy, photocatalysis, and water treatment [1,2]
Plasmas produced by laser ablation and magnetron sputtering have been widely used for thin film deposition, using different experimental setups
TiO2 thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering were modified by the incorporation of Au and Ag, using the laser ablation technique
Summary
The preparation of thin films using plasma-based deposition systems represents an innovative route to prepare materials on a nanometric scale, with potential applications in different scientific research fields, such as renewable energy, photocatalysis, and water treatment [1,2]. Plasmas produced by laser ablation and magnetron sputtering have been widely used for thin film deposition, using different experimental setups. It is possible to prepare different thin films with thicknesses from a few, to hundreds, of nanometers by varying the deposition parameters. These techniques, based on the use of plasmas in some cases, have distinctive characteristic; for example, laser ablation has the advantage of congruent transfer, with which it is not necessary to use other reagents or chemical elements to obtain complex oxides with more than two cations in thin film form. The main advantages of the sputtering technique are high deposition rates, good uniformity, and easy control of the properties of the deposited films [3]
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