Search results for "photoelectrochemistry"

Influence of Anodic and Thermal Barrier Layers on Physicochemical Behavior of Anodic TiO2 Nanotubes

2011

Electrochemical and photo-electrochemical behavior of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes formed in organic solvents have been studied by taking into account the formation of new barrier layers beneath nanotubes either due to the anodic polarization in aqueous solutions or air exposure during high temperature annealing. It has been shown that before annealing, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical answers are dominantly controlled by the physicochemical properties of the anodic barrier layer. Annealing in air at sufficiently high temperatures changes the initial amorphous structure of as-prepared nanotubes and forms a new oxide layer below them due to thermal oxidation of underneath titanium. …

Photoelectrochemical monitoring of rouging and de-rouging on AISI 316L

2017

Electrochemical conditions for inducing rouging on surface of AISI 316L in quasi neutral aqueous solution are studied. Potentiostatic polarization at 0.6 V vs. SSC at pH ∼ 7 allowed growth of colourless passive films with a band gap slightly lower than that estimated for the oxide grown on the SS surface by air exposure due to chromium dissolution. Under stronger anodic polarization (UE = 1.5 V vs. SSC) coloured passive films are formed, mainly constituted by iron oxide according to their band gap (Eg = 2.0 eV). Etching in citric acid at 60 °C results to be effective in removing rouging.

Photoelectrochemical evidence of inhomogeneous composition at nm length scale of anodic films on valve metals alloys

2016

Abstract Anodic films of different thickness (∼30 nm and 70 nm) were grown by anodizing sputtering-deposited Ta-19at% Al to different formation voltages. N incorporation into the anodic films was inducing by performing the anodizing process in ammonium containing solutions. Layered anodic films were prepared by a double formation procedure with a first anodizing step in ammonium biborate solution and second anodizing step in borate buffer solution, or vice versa. Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy was employed to show the distribution of N across the oxide. Photoelectrochemical measurements evidenced a red shift of the light absorption threshold due to N incorporation. A model was…

Photocurrent spectroscopy in passivity studies

2018

The aim of this article is to present photocurrent spectroscopy as useful in situ technique for the physicochemical characterization of passive films and corrosion layers. The response of (both amorphous and crystalline) semiconductor/electrolyte junction under irradiation is treated and discussed in order to get information about solid-state properties such as band gap and flat band potential. The possibility to use Photocurrent Spectroscopy (PCS), in a quantitative way, to get information on the composition of corrosion layers is discussed through a semiempirical correlation between the band gap of the oxides (or hydroxides) and the difference of electronegativity of their constituents. F…

AMORPHOUS SEMICONDUCTOR-ELECTROLYTE JUNCTION. A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE IMPEDANCE DATA OF AMORPHOUS SEMICONDUCTING FILMS ON METALS.

1986

On the basis of the theory of amorphous semiconductor Schottky barrier an equivalent electrical circuit of the amorphous oxide film/electrolyte interface is proposed.—The analytical expressions for the equivalent conductance and capacitance of the barrier are reported in the hypothesis of a constant density of states within the mobility gap.—According to this model, the semiconducting properties and the impedance behaviour at different frequencies of anodic oxide films on Niobium are interpreted by taking into account the amorphous nature of the films.—An explanation for the anomalous behaviour of the Mott-Schottky plots usually observed with amorphous anodic oxide films is presented.—The p…

Electrochemical Fabrication and Physicochemical Characterization of Metal/High-k Insulating Oxide/Polymer/Electrolyte Junctions

2014

Photoelectrochemical polymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), PEDOT, was successfully realized on anodic film grown to 50 V on magnetron sputtered Ti-6 atom % Si alloys. Scanning electron microscopy allowed us to evidence formation of compact and uniform polymer layers on the oxide surface. Photoelectrochemical and impedance measurements showed that photopolymerization allows one to grow PEDOT in its conducting state, while a strong cathodic polarization is necessary to bring the polymer in its p-type semiconducting state. Information on the optical and electrical properties of metal/oxide/polymer/electrolyte junctions proves that PEDOT has promising performance as an electrolyte…

Improvement of photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activity of ZnO/TiO2 core/shell system through additional calcination: Insight into the mechan…

2017

Abstract ZnO/TiO2 composites were prepared by sol-gel deposition of TiO2 on ZnO nanorods hydrothermally grown on electrically conductive indium tin oxide substrate (ITO). It has been shown that the ZnO/TiO2 interface plays a key role in enhancement of photodecomposition of methylene blue (MB) used as a model test pollutant, under monochromatic light irradiation (400 nm). The increase of photocatalytic activity was attributed to the shift of absorption edge of ZnO/TiO2 towards visible light in comparison with bare TiO2. Further enhancement of photocatalytic activity of ZnO/TiO2 was achieved through its additional calcination at 450 °C for 3 h. This treatment brings 40% increase in the rate o…

Photoelectrochemistry in corrosion studies: achievements and perspectives

1995

Template Electrochemical Growth and Properties of Mo Oxide Nanostructures

2014

This work is aimed at studying the growing process of nanostructures electrodeposited from molybdate aqueous solutions at different pH values into pores of polycarbonate membrane templates. The challenging issue was the opportunity to investigate a rather complex deposition process in a confined ambient, where electrochemical conditions are quite different from those usually established for deposition on a flat substrate. Nanostructures were grown from a bath containing Mo7O246– (NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O) at different concentrations (50–100 g/L), at a constant cathodic current density of 2 mA/cm2 (electrodeposition area ∼8 cm2). Nanostructured deposit was characterized by XRD, EDS, Raman, XPS, and …

How does anodization time affect morphological and photocatalytic properties of iron oxide nanostructures?

2020

Abstract Iron oxide nanostructures are promising materials to be used as photocatalysts in different photoelectrochemical applications. There are different techniques in order to synthesize these nanostructures, but one of the most inexpensive and simple method is electrochemical anodization. This method can lead to different nanostructures by controlling its parameters. Anodization time is one of the most critical parameters since it considerably affects the properties of the obtained nanostructures. In this work, different anodization times (5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 min) were studied. The resulting nanotubes were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman laser confoc…