title: Photo-corrosion inhibition and photoactivity enhancement with tailored zinc oxide thin films.
abstract: The nanocrystalline ZnO, TiO(2) and ZnO/TiO(2) films are deposited onto FTO-coated glass substrates by using spray pyrolysis technique. The structural, morphological, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the ZnO, TiO(2) and ZnO/TiO(2) are investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and photoelectrochemical techniques. XRD analysis shows that films are polycrystalline and having hexagonal and tetragonal crystal structure for pure ZnO and TiO(2). The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue has been investigated with ZnO, TiO(2) and ZnO/TiO(2) photocatalysts. ZnO/TiO(2) thin films have proved quite effective mineralization of methylene blue, while pure ZnO and TiO(2) do not lead complete mineralization of methylene blue. The metabolites produced during degradation are analyzed by HPLC and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy. The by-products detected during degradation have been identified by GCMS technique.
authors.affiliation: Electrochemical Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 410 006, India.
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Sapkal
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shinde
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Waghmode
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Govindwar
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Rajpure
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bhosale
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D003343:Corrosion; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D015034:Zinc Oxide; D008751:Methylene Blue