ACTA

Synthesis of Zn/TiO₂ Thin Films for Self-Cleaning Applications

D.S.C. Halin^{a, b}, A.S.Z. Abidin^a, A. Azani^{a, b}, M.A.A. Mohd Salleh^{a, b}, K.A. Razak^{a, b}, M.M.A.B. Abdullah^{a, b}, M.M. Ramli^{b, c}, A.V. Sandu^{d, e, f}, P. Vizureanu^d, L. Kaczmarek^g, S. Garus^h, J. Garus^h
^aFaculty of Chemical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Taman Muhibbah, 02600, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia
^bCentre of Excellent on Geopolymer and Green Technology (CeGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 2, Taman Muhibbah, 02600, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia
^cInstitute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), 01000 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia
^dFaculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iaşi, Boulevard D. Mangeron, No. 51, 700050 Iasi, Romania
^eRomanian Inventors Forum, Str. P. Movila 3, 700089 Iasi, Romania
^fNational Institute for Research and Development for Environmental Protection INCDPM, Splaiul Independentei 294, 060031 Bucharest, Romania
^gInstititute of Materials Science and Engineering, Lodz University of Technology (TUL), Stefanowskiego 1/15, 90-924 Łódz, Poland
^hDepartment of Mechanics and Fundamentals of Machinery Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dąbrowskiego 73, 42-201 Częstochowa, Poland

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Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin film has been widely used in semiconductor applications. The surface modification on TiO₂ has been done by adding zinc (Zn) in order to improve surface wettability and enhance the photocatalysis efficiency for solar cell applications. Self-cleaning technology is very important to sustain the efficiency of the solar cell and reduce the cost of the maintenance of the solar cell. In this work, the sol-gel method was used due to the economic factor and its best efficiency. The sol-gel method is a wet chemical technique involving several steps, such as hydrolysis and polycondensation, gelation, aging, drying, densification, and crystallization. The X-Ray diffraction pattern shows that anatase and rutile phases were detected at 2θ=36.3864^°. It was clearly seen at 4% Zn-doped TiO₂ annealed at 400° that due to the increment of Zn concentration, the phase transformed from the anatase phase to the rutile phase at high temperature. The scanning electron microscope micrograph shows that Zn concentration affects grain size. The water contact angle produced when 4% Zn-doped TiO₂ was annealed at 300°, was 18^° - higher than in the sample of 4% Zn-doped TiO₂ annealed at 400°. These results clearly showed that the dopant concentration and the annealing temperature influence the properties of TiO₂ for a self-cleaning application.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.142.164
topics: titanium dioxide, self-cleaning, photocatalysis, sol-gel