Influence of the Physical Properties on the Antibacterial and Photocatalytic Behavior of Ag-Doped Indium Sulfide Film Deposited by Spray Pyrolysis

Spray pyrolysis was used to deposit indium sulfide (In2S3) films, with or without silver doping. The films are polycrystalline, and the inclusion of Ag in the In2S3 structure leads to the formation of a solid solution, with the crystallite size of the order of tens of nanometers. In2S3 films exhibit a semiconductive behavior, and the incorporation of Ag leads to an increase of the charge carrier concentration, enhancing the electrical conductivity of the films. The small polaron hopping mechanism, deduced by the fittings according to the double Jonscher variation, explains the evolution of the direct current (dc) conductivity at high temperature of the Ag-doped indium sulfide. From impedance spectroscopy, it was found that the doped film presents dielectric relaxation, and Nyquist diagrams indicate the importance of the grain and the grain boundaries’ contributions to the transport phenomena. The physical characteristics of the films have an influence on the photocatalytic performance, achieving photodegradation efficiency above 80% (85.5% in the case of Ag doping), and on the antibacterial activity. The obtained results indicate that indium sulfide films are good candidates for environmental and biological applications, confirming a multifunctional nature.

Removing of sulfide corrosion layers by an arc plasma process

In this paper, the removal of the sulfide layer formed on an FV(520)B stainless steel in the simulated environment of air compressor blade service conditions in a reaction kettle by arc plasma was investigated to explore the mechanism and technology of the sulfide layer removed by arc plasma from a blade surface. The sulfide lattice energy is studied by using the Born Haber cycle. Besides, the energy balance of the removal process is calculated. The treated surface morphology of samples was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer. The results indicate that the energy of the arc spot is enough to evaporate the sulfide film. Due to the different electronic work functions, an arc spot is first formed on the sulfide film, and then the voltage signal is segmented during the removal process. The voltage signal in the removal process can remove sulfide without harming the metal matrix. Besides, the increase in current can improve the removal efficiency and the surface roughness of the sample. It can be revealed, by analyzing the surface composition of samples with different currents, that the sulfur content is very low, indicating that it is feasible to remove the sulfide layer by arc spot plasma.

Effect of annealing temperature on silicon-based MoSx thin film solar cells

A suitable annealing temperature was found by adopting the sol–gel method to prepare silicon-based molybdenum sulfide film heterojunction solar cells.

Ultrafast fabrication of nickel sulfide film on Ni foam for efficient overall water splitting

Ni3S2 films grown on Ni foam by directly wetting with mercaptoethanol work as an efficient bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting.