TiO2-doped activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were successfully prepared as capacitive deionization (CDI) electrode materials by facile ultrasonication-assisted process. ACFs were treated with titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and isopropyl alcohol solutions of different concentrations and then calcinated by ultrasonication without heat-treatment. The results show that a certain amount of anatase TiO2 was present on the ACF surface. The specific capacitance of the TiO2-doped ACF electrode was remarkably improved (by 93.8% at scan rate of 50 mV s–1) over that of the untreated ACF electrode, despite decreases in the specific surface area and total pore volume upon TiO2 doping. From the CDI experiments, the salt adsorption capacity and charge efficiency of the sample with TTIP percent concentration of 15% were found to considerably increase by 71.9 and 57.1%, respectively. These increases are attributed to the improved wettability of the electrode, which increases the number of surface active sites and facilitates salt ion diffusion in the ACF pores. Additionally, the Ti-OH groups of TiO2 act as electrosorption sites, which increases the electrosorption capacity.
The coupling of two semiconducting materials is an efficient method to improve photocatalytic activity via the suppression of recombination of electron-hole pairs. In particular, the coupling between two different phases of TiO2, i.e., anatase and rutile, is particularly attractive for photocatalytic activity improvement of rutile TiO2 because these coupled TiO2 powders can retain the benefits of TiO2, one of the best photocatalysts. In this study, anatase TiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized and coupled on the surface of rutile TiO2 powders using a microemulsion method and heat treatment. Triton X-100, as a surfactant, is used to suppress the aggregation of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles and disperse anatase TiO2 nanoparticles uniformly on the surface of rutile TiO2 powders. Rutile TiO2 powders coupled with anatase TiO2 nanoparticles are successfully prepared. Additionally, we compare the photocatalytic activity of these rutile-anatase coupled TiO2 powders under ultraviolet (UV) light and demonstrate that the reason for the improvement of photocatalytic activity is microstructural.
We report on the effects of TiO2 doping power on the characteristics of multicomponent TiO2-ITO (TITO) electrodes prepared by a multi-target sputtering system with tilted cathode guns. Both as-deposited and annealed TITO electrodes showed linearly increased sheet resistance and resistivity with increasing TiO2 doping power. However, the TITO electrodes exhibited a fairly high optical transmittance regardless of the TiO2 doping power due to the high transparency of the TiO2. Although the annealed TITO showed much lower sheet resistance and resistivity relative to the as-deposited samples, the electrical properties of the annealed samples exhibited similar dependence on the TiO2 power to the as-deposited samples. In addition, it was found that doping of an anatase TiO2 in the ITO electrode prevented the preferred (222) orientation of the TITO electrodes. Although the TITO electrode showed higher sheet resistance and resistivity than that of the pure ITO electrode, it offers a very smooth surface and usage of a low-cost Ti element. It is thus considered a promising multicomponent transparent conducting electrode for cost-efficient flat panel displays and photovoltatics.
TiO2광촉매릉 반응성 스퍼터링법을 이웅하여 박막으로 제조하고 유기물 및 살균실험을 통하여 미세조직이 광촉매 효율에 미치는 영향을 조사하고자 하였다. 광촉매 효율측정을 위하여 페놀분해실험 및 E.coli 078을 이용한 살균실험을 행하였다. TiO2박막에 의한 페놀분해실험 시, 전자수용체인 산소의 공급에 의하여 분해효율이 2배까지 증가하였다. E.coli 078분해실험의 경우, 광촉매 TiO2박막을 사웅하여 살균하였을때 UV만 조사하여 살균하였을 경우 보다 분해효율이 최고 70% 이상 증가하였다. 페놀분해실험과 E.coli 078 살균실험 결과 저결정성 박막의 경우 분해능이 매우 미약하였으며, 표면조도가 높고 결정성이 우수한 박막의 경우에 높은 광촉매 효율을 나타내어TiO2박막의 광촉매 효과는 표면형상과 결정성이 매우 중요한 인자로 작용하였다.