Structure and photocatalytic properties of TiO2/Cu3N composite films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Surveying the Synthesis, Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Activity of Cu3N Nanomaterials

“…For instance, Zhu et al demonstrated that the degradation of MO using TiO 2 @Cu 3 N thin films (effective band gap = 3.0 eV) is higher than in pure TiO 2 thin films, as seen in Figure 8b [35]. A degradation rate of 99.2% of MO solution with an initial concentration of 20 g/mL using a 500 W mercury lamp for 30 min was obtained [84]. Other studies using Cu 3 N@MoS 2 thin films (band gap = 2.05 eV) as photocatalysts obtained a 98.3% degradation rate of MO with an initial concentration of 10 mg/mL in 30 min.…”

“…For example, TiO 2 -Cu 3 N nanocomposites manifest an improved bandgap compared to Cu 3 N alone. Zhu et al also reported the growth of TiO 2 -Cu 3 N and Cu 3 N-MoS 2 nanocomposite films by magnetron sputtering that demonstrate enhanced photocatalytic properties [35,84]. Both TiO 2 and MoS 2 are n-type semiconductors that, when combined with p-type Cu 3 N, create p-n junctions.…”

“…For catalytic activity, large specific surfaces of active materials are required. Moreover, when the roughness increases, the number of active sites on the surface also augments, which leads to an enhancement of photocatalytic activity [35,84]. Industrially viable thin film growth techniques, such as sputtering, allow thickness control with the possibility of depositing on large surface areas in order to obtain a high specific surface.…”

“…Furthermore, the formation of secondary phases is easier to suppress during thin film growth by varying the growth parameters. In contrast, chemical routes for nanoparticle synthesis inadvertently generate secondary phases of Cu and Cu 2 O that influence the overall photocatalytic activity of Cu 3 N. Moreover, nanocomposites of Cu 3 N consisting of TiO 2 and MoS 2 show a higher photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency [35,84]. In such heterostructures, the Fermi level alignment reduces the overall bandgap of the material, making the nanocomposite more susceptible to visible light absorption and thereby increasing the absorption cross-section.…”

Construction of nanorod-shaped TiO2/Cu3N p–n heterojunction for efficient visible-light hydrogen evolution

“…16 Recently, Cu 3 N has been reported to be a kind of nontoxic and inexpensive semiconductor, which can be p-type or n-type depending on the Cu-poor or Cu-rich fabrication condition, respectively. [17][18][19] Cu 3 N has a typical anti-ReO 3 crystal structure 20 and has a tunable narrow band gap of 0.2-2.0 eV. 17,20,21 Furthermore, Cu 3 N has been reported to be applied in selectively converting methanol to formate, 22 degradation of methyl orange 20 and UV photodetection 23 due to its exceptional optical and electrical properties.…”