Thickness and photocatalytic activity relation in TiO2:N films grown by atomic layer deposition with methylene-blue and E. coli bacteria

• Published in: Bulletin of materials science Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 1225 - 1230
• Main Authors: Contreras Turrubiartes, M M M, López Luna, E, Enriquez-Carrejo, J L, Pedroza Rodriguez, A, Salcedo Reyes, J C, Vidal Borbolla, M A, Mani-Gonzalez, P G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bangalore, India Indian Academy of Sciences 01-10-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atomic layer epitaxy; Bacteria; Catalytic activity; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coliforms; E coli; Efficiency; Engineering; Film thickness; Gases; Materials Science; Methods; Methylene; Microscopy; Nitrogen; Nitrogen plasma; Optical properties; Optoelectronics; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; Photoluminescence; Raman spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Temperature; Thin films; Titanium; Titanium dioxide; Photocatalytic; degradation; atomic layer deposition; photoluminescence; anatase phase; inactivation
• ISSN: 0250-4707; 0973-7669
• DOI: 10.1007/s12034-017-1450-9

This study presents an analysis of the photocatalytic efficiency in
TiO
2
:N thin films grown by atomic layer deposition related to the film thickness. The nitriding process was carried out with nitrogen plasma by molecular nitrogen decomposition after
TiO
2
deposition. The study was performed using the time-dependent degradation of colour units for methylene-blue solutions and inactivation percentages for
Escherichia coli
bacteria, for potential applications in sewage purification. To determine the optoelectronic properties of the films, the optical, structural, surface and thickness characterizations were carried out by photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively.