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Porous TiO₂ thin film-based photocatalytic windows for an enhanced operation of optofluidic microreactors in CO₂ conversion.

ABSTRACT: Using a photocatalytic window can simplify the design of an optofluidic microreactor, providing also a more straightforward operation. Therefore, the development of TiO₂ coatings on glass substrates seems appealing, although a priori they would imply a reduced accessible area compared with supported nanoparticle systems. Considering this potential drawback, we have developed an endurable photocatalytic window consisting on an inner protective SiO₂ layer and an outer mesoporous anatase layer with enhanced surface area and nanoscopic crystallite size (9-16 nm) supported on a glass substrate. The designed photocatalytic windows are active in the CO₂-to-methanol photocatalytic transformation, with maximum methanol yield (0.52 μmol·h^-1·cm^-2) for greatest porosity values and minimum crystallite size. Compared with benchmark supported nanoparticle systems, the nanoscopic thickness of the coatings allowed to save photoactive material using only 11-22 μg·cm^-2, while its robustness prevented the leaching of active material, thus avoiding the decay of performance at long working periods.

SUBMITTER: Angulo-Ibanez A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8193139 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the form of thin films has attracted enormous attention for photocatalysis. It combines the fundamental properties of TiO2 as a large bandgap semiconductor with the advantage of thin films, making it competitive with TiO2 powders for recycling and maintenance in photocatalytic applications. There are many aspects affecting the photocatalytic performance of thin film structures, such as the nanocrystalline size, surface morphology, and phase composition. However, the quantification of each influencing aspect needs to be better studied and correlated. Here, we prepared a series of TiO2 thin films using a sol-gel process and spin-coated on p-type, (100)-oriented silicon substrates with a native oxide layer. The as-deposited TiO2 thin films were then annealed at different temperatures from 400 °C to 800 °C for 3 h in an ambient atmosphere. This sample synthesis provided systemic parameter variation regarding the aspects mentioned above. To characterize thin films, several techniques were used. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was employed for the investigation of the film thickness and the optical properties. The results revealed that an increasing annealing temperature reduced the film thickness with an increase in the refractive index. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was utilized to examine the surface morphology, revealing an increased surface roughness and grain sizes. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and UV-Raman spectroscopy were used to study the phase composition and crystallite size. The annealing process initially led to the formation of pure anatase, followed by a transformation from anatase to rutile as the annealing temperature increased. An overall enhancement in crystallinity was also observed. The photocatalytic properties of the thin films were tested using the photocatalytic decomposition of acetone gas in a home-built solid (photocatalyst)-gas (reactant) reactor. The composition of the gas mixture in the reaction chamber was monitored using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Finally, all of the structural and spectroscopic characteristics of the TiO2 thin films were quantified and correlated with their photocatalytic properties using a correlation matrix. This provided a good overview of which film properties affect the photocatalytic efficiency the most.

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Porous TiO₂ thin film-based photocatalytic windows for an enhanced operation of optofluidic microreactors in CO₂ conversion.

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OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

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Dataset Information

Porous TiO2 thin film-based photocatalytic windows for an enhanced operation of optofluidic microreactors in CO2 conversion.

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OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

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Porous TiO₂ thin film-based photocatalytic windows for an enhanced operation of optofluidic microreactors in CO₂ conversion.