Thin films of copper oxide (CuxO), titanium oxide (TiOx), and several mixtures of copper and titanium oxides ((CuTi)Ox) were deposited using magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction analysis of the as-deposited TiOx thin film revealed the presence of TiO crystallites, while in the case of (CuTi)Ox with the lowest amount of copper, metallic Cu crystallites were found. In the case of (Cu0.77Ti0.23)Ox and CuxO thin films, characteristic peaks for metallic copper and copper oxides were observed in their diffractograms. It was found that post-process annealing at 473 K considerably affects the microstructure of (CuTi)Ox thin films. After annealing, anatase phase was observed in (Cu0.23Ti0.77)Ox and (Cu0.41Ti0.59)Ox thin films. In turn, the (Cu0.77Ti0.23)Ox and CuxO films were formed only in the copper oxide phase. The (Cu0.77Ti0.23)Ox film annealed at 473 K showed the best opto-electronic performance, as it had the highest transmission and the lowest resistivity. However, the greatest advantage of this thin film was the p-type semiconducting behavior, which was the strongest of all of the thin films in this work, as indicated by the measurement of the Seebeck coefficient. All deposited thin films were sensitive to hydrogen exposure, while the best sensor response of 10.9 was observed for the (Cu0.77Ti0.23) Ox thin film annealed at 473 K.
In this work, the photocatalytic properties of thin films based on titanium oxides for application on flexible glass in photovoltaic panels were presented. Thin films were prepared by gas impulse magnetron sputtering (GIMS), where the gas injection on a target was synchronized in time with the electric pulse supplying the magnetron with the Ti target. The deposition process was carried out under various Ar/O2 atmospheres (with a content of 5–8% O2). The as-deposited TiOx films were non-stoichiometric. The influence of deposition parameters on optical properties, microstructure, hardness, and elastic modulus was examined. In addition, the dependence between the oxygen content in the sputtering atmosphere and the photocatalytic activity of the coatings was examined. The scratch resistance of the coatings and their adhesion to flexible glass were also investigated. It has been shown that the GIMS technique can be used for efficient deposition of non-stoichiometric TiOx coatings on substrates sensitive to the temperature as thin flexible glass and, at the same time, characterized by high adhesion. The TiOx-based semiconductor coatings prepared in this study can be used successfully in transparent electronics and in the construction of modern photovoltaic panels due to their photocatalytic activity, high hardness, and high level of transparency.
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