Compositionally Dependent Nonlinear Optical Bandgap Behavior of Mixed Anodic Oxides in Niobium-Titanium System

Laser-Treated MXene as an Electrochemical Agent to Boost Properties of Semitransparent Photoelectrode Based on Titania Nanotubes

In this study, Ti3C2Tx underwent laser treatment to reshape it, resulting in the formation of a TiO2/Ti3C2Tx heterojunction. The interaction with laser light induced the formation of spherical TiO2 composed of an anatase-rutile phase on the Ti3C2Tx surface. Such a heterostructure was loaded over a titania nanotube (TNT) layer, and the surface area was enhanced through immersion in a TiCl4 solution followed by thermal treatment. Consequently, the photon-to-electron conversion efficiency exhibits a 10-fold increase as compared to bare TNT. Moreover, for the sample produced with optimized conditions, five times higher photoactivity is observed in comparison to bare TNT. It was shown that under visible light irradiation the most photoactive heterojunction based on the tubular layer reveals a substantial drop in the charge transfer resistance of about 32% with respect to the dark condition. This can be attributed to the narrower band gaps of the modified material and improvement of the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Overall results suggest that this investigation underscores TiO2/Ti3C2Tx as a promising noble-metal-free material that enhances both the electrochemical and photoelectrochemical performances of electrode materials based on TNT that can be further used in light-harvesting applications.

Realization of Spatially Addressable Library by a Novel Combinatorial Approach on Atomic Layer Deposition: A Case Study of Zinc Oxide

Though the synthesis of libraries of multicomponent metal oxide systems is prevalent using the combinatorial approach, the combinatorial approach has been rarely realized in studying simple metal oxides, especially applied to the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. In this literature, a novel combinatorial approach technique is utilized within an ALD grown simple metal oxide to synthesize a "spatially addressable combinatorial library". The two key factors in gradients were defined during the ALD process: (1) the process temperature and (2) a nonuniform flow of pulsed gases inside a cross-flow reactor. To validate the feasibility of our novel combinatorial approach, a case study of zinc oxide (ZnO), a simple metal oxide whose properties are well-known, is performed. Because of the induced gradient, the ZnO (002) crystallite size was found to gradually vary across a 100 mm wafer (∼10-20 nm) with a corresponding increase in the normalized Raman E₂/A₁ peak intensity ratio. The findings agree well with the visible grain size observed from scanning electron microscope. The novel combinatorial approach provides a means of systematical interpretation of the combined effect of the two gradients, especially in the analysis of the microstructure of ZnO crystals. Moreover, the combinatorial library reveals that the process temperature, rather than the crystal size, plays the most significant role in determining the electrical conductivity of ZnO.