The present article gave the proof of concept for oxygenating human blood using the established principles of photocatalytic action of anatase TiO2 thin films in generating oxygen from water. The photocatalytic action involves the absorption of the UV optical energy (365 nm) to split water available in the blood into oxygen and hydrogen, and the generated oxygen is attached to the hemoglobin. In the present study, an enhanced catalytic action was achieved by preparing the nanosized anatase TiO2 thin films on tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films, forming TiO2/ITO semiconducting junction. These TiO2 and ITO thin films and the semiconducting junctions were grown by the reactive DC Magnetron sputtering technique (using pure metallic targets) at room temperature (300 K) and subsequently annealed at 870 K for 60 min. The annealing process (i) influenced the formation of the anatase phase of TiO2; and (ii) diffused indium from ITO into TiO2, forming InTi(2)O(5). The work functions of ITO and InTi(2)O(5) were measured to be 4.72 and 4.76 eV, respectively. The higher efficacy of the photocatalytic action was attributed to the lower work function of ITO. The results clearly show that the photocatalytic action increases the oxygen content in the blood significantly.
This report, as a proof of concept, presents the results of oxygenation of human blood using photocatalytic reaction (at lambda = 352 nm) involving the semiconductor thin film junction: tin doped indium oxide (ITO)/nano titanium oxide (TiO2 in anatase structure). These thin films were prepared at room temperature (300 K) on quartz, using reactive DC Magnetron sputtering techniques from pure metallic targets. The results indicate that when 10.0 mL of blood was exposed to ITO/nano TiO2 (14.32 cm surface area) at a wavelength of 352 nm for 120 minutes, the absolute increase in the whole blood oxygen content was 10.13 mL of oxygen per 100.0 mL of blood. This experiment, to our knowledge, is the first of its kind on human blood.
The present work describes in detail the photocatalytic properties of controlled titanium doped indium tin oxide (Ti/TiO2-ITO) composite thin films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering and their applicability to developing a bio-medical lung assistive device. The catalytic films of various thicknesses (namely, C1, C2, C3 and C4) were characterized using surface imaging (SEM), X-ray analyses (XRD and EDX), and Raman studies. The optical band gaps of the prepared films are ∼3.72-3.77 eV. Photocatalytic efficiencies of the film catalysts were investigated with the aid of a model organic molecule (Rhodamine B dye). The overall photodegradation capacity of the films was found to be slow kinetically, and the catalyst C1 was identified as having a better degradation efficiency (RhB 5 ppm, at pH 6.5) over 5 h under irradiation at 254 nm. The distinctive features of these composite films lie in their oxygen accumulation capacity and unique electron-hole pair separation ability. Investigations on oxygen species revealed the formation of superoxide radicals in aqueous systems (pH 6.5). The prepared films have TiO2 in the anatase phase in the surfaces, and possess the desired photocatalytic efficiency, compatibility to the heme system (are not involved in harmful hydroxyl radical production), and appreciable reusability. Especially, the thin films have a significant ability for mobilization of oxygen rapidly and continuously in aqueous medium under the irradiation conditions. Hence, these films may be a suitable choice for the photo-aided lung assistive design under development.
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