Athil Al-Shihabi Al-Ani
University of Nottingham School of Engineering, UK
Title: Controlling the simultaneous under-potential deposition of multiple elements on TiO2 nanotube-arrays with enhancement of photo-catalytic activity
Biography
Biography: Athil Al-Shihabi Al-Ani
Abstract
We report simultaneous under-potential deposition of multiple elements on TiO2 NTAs arrays (TiO2 NTAs) to form sensitizer of kesterite (Cu2ZnSnS4) to enhance the photo-conversion efficiency of the TiO2 NTAs. The simultaneous deposition of multiple elements was successfully achieved using the modified electrochemical atomic layer deposition (EC-ALD). We controlled the electrodeposition by manipulating the concentration of the complexing agent (EDTA) and adjusting the pH value of precursor solutions. We emphasized that examine the effect of these two factors (EDTA concentration and pH value) was a key factor to assist the successful deposition of four elements onto the TiO2 NTAs while maintaining the well-organized structure of NTAs. The electrodeposition process, surface morphology, crystalline structure and photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared and annealed Cu2ZnSnS4/ TiO2 NTAs were discussed. The kesterite crystalline structure of Cu2ZnSnS4was successfully deposited as a single phase. In comparison with pure TiO2 NTAs, an enhancement of 81% in the photo-conversion efficiency was observed, and the band gap was reduced from 3.1 eV to 2.43 eV using the sensitizer Cu2ZnSnS4. This approach probably suitable in synthesizing multijunction semiconductor materials for coating of highly structured substrates.