scholarly journals Borocarbonitride Layers on Titanium Dioxide Nanoribbons for Efficient Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 5490
Author(s):  
Nuria Jiménez-Arévalo ◽  
Eduardo Flores ◽  
Alessio Giampietri ◽  
Marco Sbroscia ◽  
Maria Grazia Betti ◽  
...  

Heterostructures formed by ultrathin borocarbonitride (BCN) layers grown on TiO2 nanoribbons were investigated as photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting. TiO2 nanoribbons were obtained by thermal oxidation of TiS3 samples. Then, BCN layers were successfully grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition. The structure and the chemical composition of the starting TiS3, the TiO2 nanoribbons and the TiO2-BCN heterostructures were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Diffuse reflectance measurements showed a change in the gap from 0.94 eV (TiS3) to 3.3 eV (TiO2) after the thermal annealing of the starting material. Morphological characterizations, such as scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy, show that the morphology of the samples was not affected by the change in the structure and composition. The obtained TiO2-BCN heterostructures were measured in a photoelectrochemical cell, showing an enhanced density of current under dark conditions and higher photocurrents when compared with TiO2. Finally, using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the flat band potential was determined to be equal in both TiO2 and TiO2-BCN samples, whereas the product of the dielectric constant and the density of donors was higher for TiO2-BCN.

2009 ◽  
Vol 289-292 ◽  
pp. 469-476
Author(s):  
J. Nieto ◽  
M.P. Hierro ◽  
F.J. Bolívar ◽  
F.J. Pérez

The influence of Al and Al-Si coatings on the corrosion behaviour of HCM12 in molten KCl-ZnCl2 mixture at 650°C in air has been characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Al and Al/Si protective coatings were developed by chemical vapour deposition in fluidized bed reactor (CVD-FBR) at moderate temperature to respect to mechanical properties of substrate. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyse the damage on the HCM12 electrode surface. Al-Si coating was found to be more resistant to the molten chlorides attack than Al coating; and both coatings increased the corrosion resistance of HCM12 in these conditions. The surface composition has been determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD).


Author(s):  
Tianlei Ma ◽  
Marek Nikiel ◽  
Andrew G. Thomas ◽  
Mohamed Missous ◽  
David J. Lewis

AbstractIn this report, we prepared transparent and conducting undoped and molybdenum-doped tin oxide (Mo–SnO2) thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD). The relationship between the precursor concentration in the feed and in the resulting films was studied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, suggesting that the efficiency of doping is quantitative and that this method could potentially impart exquisite control over dopant levels. All SnO2 films were in tetragonal structure as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction measurements. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterisation indicated for the first time that Mo ions were in mixed valence states of Mo(VI) and Mo(V) on the surface. Incorporation of Mo6+ resulted in the lowest resistivity of $$7.3 \times 10^{{ - 3}} \Omega \,{\text{cm}}$$ 7.3 × 10 - 3 Ω cm , compared to pure SnO2 films with resistivities of $$4.3\left( 0 \right) \times 10^{{ - 2}} \Omega \,{\text{cm}}$$ 4.3 0 × 10 - 2 Ω cm . Meanwhile, a high transmittance of 83% in the visible light range was also acquired. This work presents a comprehensive investigation into impact of Mo doping on SnO2 films synthesised by AACVD for the first time and establishes the potential for scalable deposition of SnO2:Mo thin films in TCO manufacturing. Graphical abstract


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 459
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Krtouš ◽  
Lenka Hanyková ◽  
Ivan Krakovský ◽  
Daniil Nikitin ◽  
Pavel Pleskunov ◽  
...  

Plasma polymer films typically consist of very short fragments of the precursor molecules. That rather limits the applicability of most plasma polymerisation/plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) processes in cases where retention of longer molecular structures is desirable. Plasma-assisted vapour thermal deposition (PAVTD) circumvents this limitation by using a classical bulk polymer as a high molecular weight “precursor”. As a model polymer in this study, polylactic acid (PLA) has been used. The resulting PLA-like films were characterised mostly by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The molecular structure of the films was found to be tunable in a broad range: from the structures very similar to bulk PLA polymer to structures that are more typical for films prepared using PECVD. In all cases, PLA-like groups are at least partially preserved. A simplified model of the PAVTD process chemistry was proposed and found to describe well the observed composition of the films. The structure of the PLA-like films demonstrates the ability of plasma-assisted vapour thermal deposition to bridge the typical gap between the classical and plasma polymers.


2010 ◽  
Vol 97-101 ◽  
pp. 4213-4216
Author(s):  
Jian Xiong Liu ◽  
Zheng Yu Wu ◽  
Guo Wen Meng ◽  
Zhao Lin Zhan

Novel single-crystalline SnO2 zigzag nanoribbons have been successfully synthesized by chemical vapour deposition. Sn powder in a ceramic boat covered with Si plates was heated at 1100°C in a flowing argon atmosphere to get deposits on a Si wafers. The main part of deposits is SnO2 zigzag nanoribbons. They were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). SEM observations reveal that the SnO2 zigzag nanoribbons are almost uniform, with lengths near to several hundred micrometers and have a good periodically tuned microstructure as the same zigzag angle and growth directions. Possible growth mechanism of these zigzag nanoribbons was discussed. A room temperature PL spectrum of the zigzag nanoribbons shows three peaks at 373nm, 421nm and 477nm.The novel zigzag microstructures will provide a new candidate for potential application.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 2357-2365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaisu Guo ◽  
Weilin Guo ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Xiaohua Ren

Abstract In this work, quinone-modified metal-organic framework MIL-101(Fe)(Q-MIL-101(Fe)), as a novel heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst, was synthesized for the activation of persulfate (PS) to remove bisphenol A (BPA). The synthetic Q-MIL-101(Fe) was characterized via X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As compared to the pure MIL-101(Fe), Q-MIL-101(Fe) displayed better catalytic activity and reusability. The results manifested that the Q-MIL-101(Fe) kept quinone units, which successfully promoted the redox cycling of Fe3+/Fe2+ and enhanced the removal efficiency. In addition, the reaction factors of Q-MIL-101(Fe) were studied (e.g. pH, catalyst dosage, PS concentration and temperature), showing that the optimum conditions were [catalyst] = 0.2 g/L, [BPA] = 60 mg/L, [PS] = 4 mmol/L, pH = 6.79, temperature = 25 °C. On the basis of these findings, the probable mechanism on the heterogeneous activation of PS by Q-MIL-101(Fe) was proposed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
M. Khadiri ◽  
M. Elyaagoubi ◽  
R. Idouhli ◽  
Y. Koumya ◽  
O. Zakir ◽  
...  

The anodization of the Ti-Cu (2%) alloy was carried out in a 5M H3PO4 solution for 2 minutes. The obtained layers are characterized by XPS, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the obtained films are composed of poorly crystallized TiO2 oxide. Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy studies revealed that the thickness of the formed film increases with increasing anodization potential. Additionally, the resistance of charge transfer becomes higher when the anodization potential increases. Thus, the Mott Schottky model revealed that the formed film is an n-type semiconductor. The density of charge carriers is in good agreement with those found in the literature. Also, it is found that the flat-band potential increases with increasing treatment potential.


2014 ◽  
Vol 687-691 ◽  
pp. 4327-4330
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Zhe Sheng Feng ◽  
Lu Lin Wang ◽  
Jin Ju Chen ◽  
Zhen Yu He

Li0.97K0.03FePO4 and Li0.97K0.03FePO4/graphene composites were synthesized by carbothermal reduction method using acetylene black as carbon source. The structure and electrochemical properties of the prepared materials were investigated with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, galvanostatic charge and discharge and electrochemical impedance spectra tests. The results indicated that K doping improves the cyclic stability of samples, the addition of small amounts of graphene results in better electronic properties on sample. Li0.97K0.03FePO4/graphene showed discharge capacity of 158.06 and 90.55 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and 10 C, respectively. After the 50 cycle test at different rates, the reversible discharge capacity at 0.1 C was 158.58 mAh g-1, indicating the capacity retention ratio of 100.32%.


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