UV-black rutile TiO{sub 2}: An antireflective photocatalytic nanostructure
- CNR-IMM, Via Santa Sofia 64, I-95123 Catania (Italy)
- Department of Physics, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, I-95123 Catania (Italy)
- CNR-IMM, Zona industriale strada VIII n.5, I-95121 Catania (Italy)
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Linköping SE-581 83 (Sweden)
This work presents an experimental study on the specific quantitative contributions of antireflective and effective surface areas on the photocatalytic and antibacterial properties of rutile TiO{sub 2} nanospikes. They are studied when continuously distributed over the whole surface and when integrated into well-defined microstructures. The nanospikes were produced following MeV ion beam irradiation of bulk rutile TiO{sub 2} single crystals and subsequent chemical etching. The ion beam irradiation generated embedded isolated crystalline nanoparticles inside an etchable amorphous TiO{sub 2} layer, and nanospikes fixed to the not etchable TiO{sub 2} bulk substrate. The produced nanospikes are shown to resist towards aggressive chemical environments and act as an efficient UV antireflective surface. The photocatalytic activity experiments were performed under the ISO 10678:2010 protocol. The photonic and quantum efficiency are reported for the studied samples. The combined micro- and nanostructured surface triples the photonic efficiency compared to the initial flat surface. Results also revealed that the antireflective effect, due to the nanostructuring, is the dominating factor compared to the increase of surface area, for the observed photocatalytic response. The obtained results may be taken as a general strategy to design and precisely evaluate photoactive nanostructures.
- OSTI ID:
- 22413138
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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