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Morphology, Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Activity of Photo- and Plasma-Deposited Au and Au/Ag Core/Shell Nanoparticles on Titania Layers
Titania is a promising material for numerous photocatalytic reactions such as water splitting and the degradation of organic compounds (e.g., methanol, phenol). Its catalytic performance can be significantly increased by the addition of co-catalysts. In this study, Au and Au/Ag nanoparticles were deposited onto mesoporous titania thin films using photo-deposition (Au) and magnetron-sputtering (Au and Au/Ag). All samples underwent comprehensive structural characterization by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Nanoparticle distributions and nanoparticle size distributions were correlated to the deposition methods. Light absorption measurements showed features related to diffuse scattering, the band gap of titania and the local surface plasmon resonance of the noble metal nanoparticles. Further, the photocatalytic activities were measured using methanol as a hole scavenger. All nanoparticle-decorated thin films showed significant performance increases in hydrogen evolution under UV illumination compared to pure titania, with an evolution rate of up to 372 μL H2 h−1 cm−2 representing a promising approximately 12-fold increase compared to pure titania.
Effect of chemical solvents on the wetting behavior over time of femtosecond laser structured ti6al4v surfaces
The effect of chemical solvents on the wetting state of laser-structured surfaces over time is systematically examined in this paper. By using a 300-fs laser, nanostructures were generated on Ti6Al4V, subsequently cleaned in an ultrasonic bath with different solvents and stored in ambient air. The static contact angle showed significant differences for cleaning with various solvents, which, depending on the applied cleaning and time, amounted up to 100°. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses reveal that the cleaning of the laser-structured surfaces affects the surface chemistry and the aging behavior of the surfaces, even with highly volatile solvents. The effect of the chemical surface modification is particularly noticeable when using alcohols for cleaning, which, due to their OH groups, cause highly hydrophilic behavior of the surface after one day of storage. Over the course of 14 days, enrichment with organic groups from the atmosphere occurs on the surface, which leads to poorer wetting on almost every structured surface. In contrast, the cleaning in hexane leads to a fast saturation of the surface with long-chain carbon groups and thus to a time-independent hydrophobic behavior.