A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Defect-Mediated Crystallization of the Particulate TiO2 Photocatalyst Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition




AuthorsBhuskute, Bela D.; Ali-Löytty, Harri; Saari, Jesse; Hiltunen, Arto; Ruoko, Tero-Petri; Salminen, Turkka; Valden, Mika

PublisherAMER CHEMICAL SOC

Publishing placeWASHINGTON

Publication year2024

JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C

Journal name in sourceJOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C

Journal acronymJ PHYS CHEM C

Volume129

Issue1

First page 353

Last page358

Number of pages6

ISSN1932-7447

eISSN1932-7455

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c07091

Web address https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c07091

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/477943694


Abstract

Nanopowders or films of pure and mixed oxides in nanoparticulate form have gained specific interest due to their applicability in functionalizing high-surface-area substrates. Among various other applications, our presented work primarily focuses on the behavior of TiO2 as a photocatalyst deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on a quartz particle. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 on quartz particles grown by ALD was studied in terms of ALD growth temperature and post-treatment heating rate. Amorphous TiO2 thin films (30 nm) were grown from tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium (TDMAT) at 100 and 200 °C on quartz particles (0.35-3.5 μm) and crystallized using oxidative heat treatment at 500 °C with variable heating rates. The growth temperature was found to affect the TiO2 defect structure: TiO2 grown at 200 °C is black due to Ti3+ defects, whereas the film grown at 100 °C is white but contains some traces of the TDMAT ALD precursor. During the oxidative heat treatment, precursor traces desorbed and Ti3+ defects were oxidized. ALD TiO2 grown at 100 degrees C crystallized as anatase, whereas the rutile-to-anatase ratio of 200 °C grown TiO2 increased with the heating rate. The hydrogen production rate of mixed-phase TiO2 was found to outperform that of anatase TiO2.


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Funding information in the publication
B.D.B. is thankful for the EDUFI fellowship, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation (HA postdoc homing grant), Fortum and Neste Foundation, Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion, Walter Ahlström Foundation, and Emil Aaltonen Foundation for research and incentive grants. J.S. was supported by the Vilho, Yrjö, and Kalle Väisälä Foundation of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. T.-P.R. wassupported by the Research Council of Finland postdoctoral fellowship (Decision Number 320165), the Finnish Center of Excellence program on Life-Inspired Materials LIBER (Decision Number 346107), and the EU H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement 101022777. This work was supported by the Jane & Aatos Erkko Foundation (Project “Solar Fuels Synthesis”). This work is part of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme, Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN, Decision Number 320165).


Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:36