Fabrication of nano-structured TiO2 coatings using a microblast deposition technique

Abstract

Micron thick Titanium Dioxide (TiO 2 ) coatings exhibiting a nano-structured, anatase, mesoporous structure were successfully deposited across a range of polymer, conductive glass and metallic substrates at low velocities using a microblasting technique. This process was conducted at atmospheric pressure using compressed air as the carrier gas and commercially available agglomerated nano particles of TiO 2 as the feedstock. An examination of the effect of impact kinetics on the agglomerated powder before and after deposition was undertaken. A further examination of the coating microstructure along with photocurrent density measurements before and after thermal treatments was explored. Owing to the low temperature and velocity of the powder during deposition no change in phase of the powder or damage to the substrate was observed. The resulting TiO 2 coatings exhibited relatively good adhesion on both titanium and FTO coated glass substrates with coating thickness of approximately 1.5 μm. Photo-catalytic performance was measured under solar simulator illumination using a photo-electrochemical cell (PEC) with a 5 fold increase in performance observed after thermal treatment of the TiO 2 coated substrates. Microblasting was demonstrated to be a rapid and cost effective method for the deposition of nano-structured, photo-catalytic, anatase TiO 2 coatings.

Laccase‐catalyzed polymerization drying of Chinese lacquer sap with TiO2 nanoparticles

“…It is also widely used in paints, but it is different from the traditional large size TiO 2 particles (200–300 nm) as sunscreen components and white pigments. Nano‐TiO 2 coatings are used in the fields of self‐cleaning and antimicrobial surfaces due to the photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 . Moreover, compared with the bulk TiO 2 particles, TiO 2 nanoparticles have larger specific surface areas, shorter TiO bond lengths and coordinatively unsaturated surface Ti atoms .…”

Advancements in Nanoparticle Deposition Techniques for Diverse Substrates: A Review

“…These substrates exhibit different thermal, mechanical, optical, and catalytic properties depending on the nanomaterial used for functionalization. This fact has led to the development of new nanomaterial deposition techniques on this type of substrate [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. The most prominent techniques are presented below.…”

Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Properties of Nickel Oxide (NiO) With Nanostructured Morphology for Photoconversion Applications

“…Nanostructured SC electrodes made of TMOs with one (Rettie et al, 2016) or more metal atoms (Rowley et al, 2014; Sullivan et al, 2015; Jiang et al, 2016a) can be prepared and deposited in many ways utilizing either a chemical approach (Boschloo and Hagfeldt, 2001; Li et al, 2010; Venditti et al, 2014) or physical methods for the attainment of electrodes in the configuration of thin film (Passerini et al, 1993; Twomey et al, 2008; Awais et al, 2010, 2013a; Gibson et al, 2013; McDonnell et al, 2013; Bonomo et al, 2016a). These include sol-gel procedures(Boschloo and Hagfeldt, 2001; Li et al, 2010), template chemistry, screen-printing (Twomey et al, 2008; Gibson et al, 2013; Bonomo et al, 2016c), plasma assisted microwave sintering (McCann et al, 2011; Awais et al, 2013a; McDonnell et al, 2013), micropowder microblast, (Awais et al, 2013a; McDonnell et al, 2013) magnetron sputtering (Passerini et al, 1993; Awais et al, 2010; McCann et al, 2011; McDonnell et al, 2012) and electrodeposition (Venditti et al, 2014) among others. The most common examples of nanostructured photoelectroactive SCs of n -type are TiO 2 in the anatase form Wu et al (2008), hexagonal ZnO, (Rensmo et al, 1997; Keis et al, 2001, 2002; Boucharef et al, 2010; Dupuy et al, 2010; Tian et al, 2011; Li M. et al, 2016) Fe 2 O 3 hematite, (Kay et al, 2006; Congiu et al, 2017) WO 3 , (Masetti et al, 1995; Dini et al, 1996) VO x (Wang et al, 2006; Sai Gautam et al, 2016) and Nb 2 O 5 (Fiz et al, 2016).…”