Photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance of Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} microcolumn films fabricated using facile reactive sputtering

Journal Article · Sun Aug 21 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4960806· OSTI ID:22598907

Lin, Der-Hwa ^[1]; Chang, Kao-Shuo ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan City 70101, Taiwan (China)

This paper presents the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} microcolumn films. The highlights include (1) overcoming the fundamental barrier of standard reactive sputtering for fabricating microcolumns; (2) preventing unnecessary complexity from complicating facile sputtering; (3) an alternative but effective approach for fabricating Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} without using caustic NH{sub 3} gases; (4) investigating morphology tuning for favorable photocatalysis and PEC reactions; and (5) elucidating the relationships of the structures, morphologies, and properties of Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} microcolumns. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and selective-area electron diffraction verified the polycrystallinity of Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} microcolumns, of which the elemental compositions and stoichiometry were measured using electron-probe energy dispersive spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The corresponding band gap was determined to be approximately 2.1 eV. The sample exhibited a superior photodegradation capability; the photodegradation rate constant k was determined to be approximately 1.4 times higher than that of P25 under UV irradiation. A photocatalytic and PEC cycling test indicated the photodegradation reusability and photostability of the Ta{sub 3}N{sub 5} microcolumns. The incident photon-to-current efficiency performance reached 6%, suggesting that these microcolumns hold potential for application in PEC devices.

• OSTI ID: 22598907
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMMONIA
AUGER ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
ELECTRON PROBES
ELECTRONS
FILMS
IRRADIATION
MORPHOLOGY
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOCATALYSIS
PHOTONS
REACTION KINETICS
SPUTTERING
STOICHIOMETRY
TANTALUM NITRIDES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
TUNING
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY