• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.137-146
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• 2023

Nanosized TiO₂ has been widely investigated in photoelectrochemical or photocatalytic applications due to their intrinsic properties such as suitable band position, high photocorrosion resistance, and surface area. In this study, to achieve the high efficiency in photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance, TiO₂ nanotubular structures were formed by anodization at various temperatures and times. The morphological and crystal structure of the anodized TiO₂ nanotubes (NTs) were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of the TiO₂ NTs were studied with different lengths and morphologies. From the detailed investigations, the optimum thickness of TiO₂ nanotubes was 3 ㎛. Moreover, we found that the optimum photocatalytic pollutant removal efficiency of TiO₂ nanotubes for photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated solar light was 5.34 ㎛ of tube length.

• 한국표면공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국표면공학회 2016년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.59-75
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• 2016

Reduced or black $TiO_{2-x}$ materials with oxygen-deficiency have been achieved by creating oxygen vacancies and/or defects at the surface using different methods. Fascinatingly, they exhibited an extended absorption in VIS and IR instead of only UV light with bandgap decrease from 3.2 (anatase) to ~1 eV. However, despite the dramatic enhancement of optical absorption in black $TiO_{2-x}$ materials, they have failed to show expected visible light-assisted water splitting efficiency. This was ascribed to the high concentration of the surface defects and/or oxygen vacancies, considered as an electron donor to enhance donor density and improve the charge transportation in black $TiO_2$ can also act as charge recombination centers, which eventually decrease photocatalytic activity. Therefore, a black ot reducd $TiO_2$ material with optimized properties would be highly desired for visible light photocatalysis. In this report, a new controlled magnesiothermic reduction has been developed to synthesize reduced black $TiO_{2-x}$ in the presence $H_2/Ar$ for photocatalytic $H_2$ production from methanol-water system. The material possesses an optimum band gap and band position, oxygen vacancies, and surface defects and shows significantly improved optical absorption in the visible and infrared region. The synergistic effects enable the reduced $TiO_{2-x}$ material to show an excellent hydrogen production ability along with long-term stability under the full solar wavelength range of light and visible light, respectively, in the methanol-water system in the presence of Pt as a co-catalyst. These values are superior to those of previously reported black $TiO_2$ materials. On the basis of all the results, it can be realized that the outstanding activity and stability of the reduced of $TiO_{2-x}$ NPs suggest that a balanced combination of different factors like $Ti^{3+}$, surface defects, oxygen vacancy, and recombination center is achieved along with optimized bandgap and band position during the preparation employing magnesiothermic reduction in the presence of $H_2$. The controlled magnesiothermic reduction in the presence of $H_2$ is one of the best alternative ways to produce active and stable $TiO_2-based$ photocatalyst for $H_2$ production.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.424-432
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• 2019

Planar BiVO₄ and 3 wt% Mo-doped BiVO₄ (abbreviated as Mo:BiVO₄) film were prepared by the facile spin-coating method on fluorine doped SnO₂(FTO) substrate in the same precursor solution including the Mo precursor in Mo:BiVO₄ film. After annealing at a high temperature of 450℃ for 30 min to improve crystallinity, the films exhibited the monoclinic crystalline phase and nanoporous architecture. Both films showed no remarkably discrepancy in crystalline or morphological properties. To investigate the effect of surface passivation exploring the Al₂O₃ layer, the ultra-thin Al₂O₃ layer with a thickness of approximately 2 nm was deposited on BiVO₄ film using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. No distinct morphological modification was observed for all prepared BiVO₄ and Mo:BiVO₄ films. Only slightly reduced nanopores were observed. Although both samples showed some reduction of light absorption in the visible wavelength after coating of Al₂O₃ layer, the Al₂O₃ coated BiVO₄ (Al₂O₃/BiVO₄) film exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical performance in 0.5 M Na₂SO₄ solution (pH 6.5), having higher photocurrent density (0.91 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), briefly abbreviated as V_RHE) than BiVO₄ film (0.12 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE). Moreover, Al₂O₃ coating on the Mo:BiVO₄ film exhibited more enhanced photocurrent density (1.5 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE) than the Mo:BiVO₄ film (0.86 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE). To examine the reasons, capacitance measurement and Mott-Schottky analysis were conducted, revealing that the significant degradation of capacitance value was observed in both BiVO₄ film and Al₂O₃/Mo:BiVO₄ film, probably due to degraded capacitance by surface passivation. Furthermore, the flat-band potential (V_FB) was negatively shifted to about 200 mV while the electronic conductivities were enhanced by Al₂O₃ coating in both samples, contributing to the advancement of PEC performance by ultra-thin Al₂O₃ layer.

• 대한환경공학회지
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• 제33권12호
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• pp.907-912
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• 2011

물의 광분해에 의한 수소생산을 위하여 이산화티타늄($TiO_2$)과 산화니오븀($Nb_2O_5$)을 이용하여 가시광선 감응 광촉매 개발을 본 연구의 목적으로 하고 있다. 이를 위하여 요소를 이용한 질소 도핑한 $TiO_2$, $Nb_2O_5$, $HNb_3O_8$ ($TiO_2-N$, $Nb_2O_5-N$와 $HNb_3O_8-N$)을 제조하였다. 그 결과 질소 도핑이 광촉매의 띠간격 에너지를 감소시킴으로써 excitation파장이 자외선 영역에서 가시광선 영역으로 이동한 것을 reflectance 관찰을 통해 알 수 있었다. 특히 $TiO_2-N$의 경우 띠 간격 에너지가 3.3 eV ($TiO_2$)에서 2.72 eV로 가장 큰 감소를 보였다. 또한, 가시광선 영역에서 로다민 B 광분해 반응을 통하여 광촉매의 활성도를 평가하였을 때, 질소 도핑한 경우($Nb_2O_5-N$와 $HNb_3O_8-N$)는 모두 80% 이상의 분해 효율을 나타내었으며 특히 $TiO_2-N$이 약 99.8%의 높은 분해율을 보여주었다. 그러나 질소 도핑을 하지 않은 $TiO_2$와 $Nb_2O_5$의 경우, 약 10% 의 로다민 B가 분해된 것으로 관찰되었다. 또한 가시광선 영역에서 각 촉매의 광전류 생성을 비교해보았을 때, $HNb_3O_8-N$ ($63.7mA/cm^2$)이 가장 높은 전류 반응을 나타내었으며 물의 광분해에 의한 수소생산량을 비교해보면 $Nb_2O_5-N$이 $19.4{\mu}mol/h$의 가장 많은 양을 생산한 것으로 나타났다.