Study of N-doped TiO₂thin films for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation from water

• Autorzy: Kamila Kollbek , Marcin Sikora , Czeslaw Kapusta , Anita Trenczek-Zajac , Marta Radecka , Katarzyna Zakrzewska
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

The present work deals with nitrogen-doped stoichiometric TiO2:N and non-stoichiometric TiO2−x:N thin films deposited by means of dc-pulsed reactive sputtering for application as photoanodes for hydrogen generation from water, using solar energy. Stoichiometric thin films of TiO2 crystallize as a mixture of anatase and rutile while rutile phase predominates in TiO2:N at higher nitrogen flow rates as shown by X-ray diffraction at grazing incidence, XRD GID. Lack of bulk nitridation of stoichiometric TiO2:N is indicated by valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy, XES, analysis. The energy band gap as well as flat band potential remain almost unaffected by increasing nitrogen flow rate in this case. In contrast to that, non-stoichiometric thin films of TiO2‑x:N demonstrate systematic evolution of the structural, morphological, optical and photolectrochemical properties upon increasing level of nitrogen doping. Pronounced changes in the growth pattern of non-stoichiometric TiO2-x:N upon varied nitrogen flow rate, demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, SEM, can be easily correlated with the crystallographic properties studied by XRD GID. Relative positions of Kβ’’ XES lines of the TiO2-x:N thin films, which depend strongly on the nature of the ligands and their local coordination, change with the increasing nitrogen flow. Doping of nonstoichiometric titanium dioxide with nitrogen shifts the absorption spectrum towards the visible range and increases considerably the flat band potential which is beneficial for water photolysis.

EN

Słowa kluczowe

EN

nitrogen doped TiO2; thin films; opticalproperties; flat band potential; XES

• Czasopismo: Open Chemistry
• Rocznik: 2015
• Tom: 13
• Numer: 1

Daty

otrzymano

2013-11-06

zaakceptowano

2014-11-04

online

2015-04-08

Twórcy

autor

Kamila Kollbek

• AGH University of Science
  and Technology, Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology,
  Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
• AGH University of
  Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer
  Science, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

autor

Marcin Sikora

• AGH University of Science
  and Technology, Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology,
  Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
• AGH University of
  Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer
  Science, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

autor

Czeslaw Kapusta

• AGH University of
  Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer
  Science, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

autor

Anita Trenczek-Zajac

• AGH University of Science
  and Technology, Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics,
  Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

autor

Marta Radecka

• AGH University of Science
  and Technology, Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics,
  Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

autor

Katarzyna Zakrzewska

• AGH University of Science and Technology,
  Faculty of Computer Science, Electronics and Telecommunications,
  Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

Bibliografia

• [1] Van de Krol R., Grätzel M. (eds.), Photoelectrochemical HydrogenProduction, Electronic Materials: Science & Technology 102,Springer Science+Business Media, 2012.
• [2] Huang C.W., Liao C.H., Wu J.C.S., Liu Y.C, Chang C.L., Wu C.H., etal., Hydrogen generation from photocatalytic water splitting overTiO2 thin film prepared by electron beam-induced deposition,Int. J. Hydrogen Energ., 2010, 35, 12005-12010.
• [3] Radecka M., Rekas M., Trenczek-Zajac A., Zakrzewska K.,Importance of the band gap energy and flat band potential forapplication of modified TiO2 photoanodes in water photolysis, J.Power Sources, 2008, 181, 46-55.
• [4] Fujishima A., Honda K., Electrochemical photolysis of water at asemiconductor electrode, Nature, 1972, 238, 37-38.
• [5] Zakrzewska K., Brudnik A., Radecka M., Posadowski W.,Reactively sputtered TiO2-x thin films with plasma-emissioncontrolleddeparture from stoichiometry, Thin Solid Films, 1999,343, 152-155.
• [6] Radecka M., Trenczek-Zajac A., Zakrzewska K., Rekas M.,Effect of oxygen nonstoichiometry on photo-electrochemicalproperties of TiO2−x, J. Power Sources, 2007, 173, 816-821.
• [7] Vratny F., Micale F., Reflectance spectra of non-stoichiometrictitanium oxide, niobium oxide, and vanadium oxide, Trans.Faraday Soc., 1963, 59, 2739-2749.
• [8] Brudnik A., Gorzkowska-Sobaś A., Pamuła E., Radecka M.,Zakrzewska K., Thin film TiO2 photoanodes for water photolysisprepared by dc magnetron sputtering, J. Power Sources, 2007,173, 774-780.
• [9] Radecka M., Rekas M., Kusior E., Zakrzewska K., Heel A.,Michalow K.A., et al., TiO2-based nanopowders and thin films forphotocatalytical applications, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 2010,10, 1032-1042.
• [10] Radecka M., Wierzbicka M., Komornicki S., Rekas M., Influenceof Cr on photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 thin films,Physica B, 2004, 348, 160-168.
• [11] Trenczek-Zajac A., Radecka M., Jasinski M., Michalow K.A.,Rekas M., Kusior E., et al., Influence of Cr on structural andoptical properties of TiO2:Cr nanopowders prepared by flamespray synthesis, J. Power Sources, 2009, 194, 104-111.
• [12] Radecka M., Zakrzewska K., Wierzbicka M., Gorzkowska A.,Komornicki S., Study of the TiO2-Cr2O3 system forphotoelectrolytic decomposition of water, Solid State Ionics,2003, 157, 379-386.
• [13] Asahi R., Morikawa T., Ohwaki T., Aoki K., Taga Y., Visible-lightphotocatalysis in nitrogen-doped titanium oxides, Science,2001, 293, 269-271.
• [14] Di Valentin C., Pacchioni G.F., Selloni A., Origin of the differentphotoactivity of N-doped anatase and rutile TiO2, Phys. Rev. B,2004, 70, 85116 .
• [15] Lee S.H., Yamasue E., Okumura H., Ishihara K.N, Effect ofoxygen and nitrogen concentration of nitrogen doped TiOx filmas photocatalyst prepared by reactive sputtering, Appl. Catal.A-Gen., 2009, 371, 179-190.[WoS]
• [16] Radecka M., Pamula E., Trenczek-Zajac A., Zakrzewska K.,Brudnik A., Kusior E., et al., Chemical composition,crystallographic structure and impedance spectroscopy oftitanium oxynitride TiNxOy thin films, Solid State Ionics, 2011,192, 693-698.
• [17] Trenczek-Zajac A., Pamula E., Radecka M., Kowalski K.,Reszka A., Brudnik A., et al., Thin films of TiO2:N for photoelectrochemicalapplications, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 2012,12, 4703-4709.
• [18] Henderson M.A., A surface science perspective on TiO2photocatalysis, Surf. Sci. Rep., 2011, 66, 185-297.
• [19] Wong M.S., Chou H.P., Yang T.S., Reactively sputtered N-dopedtitanium oxide films as visible-light photocatalyst, Thin SolidFilms, 2006, 494, 244-249.
• [20] Dong F., Guo S., Li H., Wang X., Wu Z., Enhancement of the visiblelight photocatalytic activity of C-doped TiO2 nanomaterialsprepared by a green synthetic approach, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2011,115, 13285-13292.
• [21] Chaudhuri R.G., Paria S., Visible light induced photocatalyticactivity of sulfur doped hollow TiO2 nanoparticles, synthesizedvia a novel route, Dalton T., 2014, 43, 5526-5534.
• [22] Kollbek K., Sikora M., Kapusta Cz., Szlachetko J., Brudnik A.,Kusior E. et al., X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy ofTiO2 thin films with modified anionic sublattice, Radiat. Phys.Chem., 2013, 93, 40-46.
• [23] Szlachetko J., Sa J., Rational design of oxynitride materials: Fromtheory to experiment, Cryst. Eng. Comm., 2013, 15, 2583-2587.
• [24] Fakhouri H., Pulpytel J., Smith W., Zolfaghari A., MortahebH.R., Meshkini F., et al., Control of the visible and UV lightwater splitting and photocatalysis of nitrogen doped TiO2 thinfilms deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering, Appl. Catal.B-Environ., 2014, 144, 12-21.
• [25] Zhu L., Xie J., Cui X., Shen J., Yang X., Zhang Z.,Photoelectrochemical and optical properties of N-doped TiO2thin films prepared by oxidation of sputtered TiNx films, Vacuum,2010, 84, 797-802.
• [26] Babu V.J., Kumar M.K., Nair A.S., Kheng T.L., Allakhverdiev S.I.,Ramakrishna S., Visible light photocatalytic water splitting forhydrogen production from N-TiO2 rice grain shaped electrospunnanostructures, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ., 2012, 37, 8897-8904.
• [27] Wang C., Hu Q., Huang J., Wu L., Deng Z., Liu Z., et al., Efficienthydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting usingN-doped TiO2 film, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2013, 283, 188-192.
• [28] R. Brahimi, Y. Bessekhouad, M. Trari, Physical properties ofNxTiO2 prepared by sol–gel route, Physica B, 2012, 407, 3897-3904.
• [29] Chen X., Burda X., Guo J., Smith K.E., Glans P.A., Learmonth T.,X-ray absorption and emission study of nitrogen-doped titaniananoparticles, Arabian J. Sci. Eng., 2010, 35, 65-71.
• [30] Braun A., Akurati K.K., Fortunato G., Reifler F.A., Ritter A.,Harvey A.S., et al., Nitrogen doping of TiO2 photocatalyst formsa second eg state in the oxygen 1s NEXAFS pre-edge, J. Phys.Chem. C, 2010, 114, 516-519.
• [31] Radecka M., Zakrzewska K., Czternastek H., Stapinski T.,Debrus S., The influence of thermal annealing on the structural,electrical and optical properties of TiO2-x thin films, Appl. Surf.Sci., 1993, 65, 227-234.
• [32] Szlachetko J., Nachtegaal M., De Boni E., Willimann M.,Safonova O., Sa J., et al., A von Hamos X-ray spectrometer basedon a segmented-type diffraction crystal for single-shot X-rayemission spectroscopy and time-resolved resonant inelasticX-ray scattering studies, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 2012, 83, 103105.
• [33] Kollbek K., Sikora M., Kapusta Cz., Szlachetko J., Zakrzewska K.,Kowalski K., et al., X-ray spectroscopic methods in the studies of nonstoichiometric TiO2−x thin films, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2013,281, 100-104.
• [34] Thornton, J. A., Influence of apparatus geometry and depositionconditions on the structure and topography of thick sputteredcoatings, J. Vac. Sci. Technol., 1974, 11, 666.
• [35] Glatzel P., Bergmann U., High resolution 1s core hole X-rayspectroscopy in 3d transition metal complexes-electronic andstructural information, Coordin. Chem. Rev., 2005, 249, 65-95.
• [36] Glatzel P., Weng T.C., Kvashina K., Swarbrick J., Sikora M.,Gallo E., et al., Reflections on hard X-ray photon-in/photonoutspectroscopy for electronic structure studies, J. ElectronSpectrosc. Relat. Phenom., 2013, 188, 17-25.
• [37] Eeckhout S.G., Sofanova O.V., Smolentsev G., Biasioli M.,Safonov V.A., Vykhodtseva L.N., et al., Cr local environmentby valence-to-core X-ray emission spectroscopy, J. Anal. At.Spectrom., 2009, 24, 215-223.[WoS]
• [38] Irie H., Watanabe Y., Hashimoto K., Nitrogen-concentrationdependence on photocatalytic activity of TiO2-xNx powders, J.Phys. Chem. B, 2003, 107, 5483-5486.
• [39] Di Valentin C., Finazzi E., Pacchioni G., Selloni A., Livraghi S.,Paganini M.C., et al., N-doped TiO2: Theory and experiment,Chem. Phys., 2007, 339, 44-56.
• [40] Di Valentin C., Pacchioni G., Selloni A., Electronic structureof defect states in hydroxylated and reduced rutile TiO2(110)surfaces, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006, 97, 166803.
• [41] Nakano Y., Morikawa T., Ohwaki T., Taga Y., Deep-level opticalspectroscopy investigation of N-doped TiO2 films, Appl. Phys.Lett., 2005, 86, 132104.
• [42] Chan M.H., Lu F.H., Characterization of N-doped TiO2 filmsprepared by reactive sputtering using air/Ar mixtures, Thin SolidFilms, 2009, 518, 1369-1372.
• [43] DeLoach J.D., Scarel G., Aita C.R., Correlation between titaniafilm structure and near ultraviolet optical absorption, J. Appl.Phys., 1999, 85, 2377-2384.
• [44] Khoshman J.M., Kordesch M.E., Optical absorption in amorphousInN thin films, J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 2006, 352, 5572-5577.
• [45] Frova A., Boddy P.J., Chen Y.S., Electromodulation of the opticalconstants of rutile in the UV, Phys. Rev., 1967, 157, 700-708.
• [46] Tang H., Prasad K., Sanjinès R., Schmid P.E., Lévy F., Electricaland optical properties of TiO2 anatase thin films, J. Appl. Phys.,1994, 75, 2042.
• [47] Deb S.K., Photoconductivity and photoluminescence inamorphous titanium dioxide, Solid State Commun., 1972, 11,713-715.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.1515/chem-2015-0089