Degradation products formed during UV exposure of polyethylene-ZnO nano-composites

Photodegradation of low density polyethylene (LDPE) containing nano-particulate ZnO has been studied using FTIR to follow the development of oxidation products in the polymer film and to monitor carbon dioxide evolved as a principal product of oxidation. The degradation behaviour of ZnO-free LDPE has been compared with that of compounds containing 0.25% and 0.75% ZnO and these results are compared with those obtained using similar films containing nano-particulate TiO₂. Under UV exposure, the presence of ZnO accelerated the development of carbonyl groups and CO₂ production. The carbonyl group development was more rapid when TiO₂ was used whereas ZnO caused greater CO₂ generation. Carbonyl group development seemed to correlate better with the reduction in mechanical properties whereas CO₂ generation correlated better with weight change measurements. The influence of ZnO on the oxidation pathways in LDPE is discussed; it is proposed that photo-oxidation is relatively much more likely to occur at terminal sites (rather than at pendent sites) when ZnO is present.     

Evaluation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) photostabilisation using FTIR spectrometry of evolved carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide evolution from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films during ultraviolet (UV) exposure has been monitored using FTIR interrogation of the atmosphere surrounding the test pieces. Measurement periods as little as 4 h could easily discriminate between CO₂ emission rates when tests were conducted to investigate the effect of using different reaction atmospheres or of including UV absorber in the PET samples. Samples containing UV absorbers either homogeneously distributed through the film or in thin surface layers (∼0.7 μm thick) were also tested. Relatively small reductions in CO₂ emission rates were observed with samples containing UV absorbers but the rates were not very sensitive to the distribution and concentration of the absorbers. A thin surface layer containing only 2% stabiliser (equivalent to 0.23% stabiliser when averaged over the whole film thickness) provided oxidation reduction similar to that observed when 1% stabiliser was distributed evenly throughout the sample. Tests were conducted in wet oxygen, dry oxygen and dry nitrogen. For as-received bi-axially drawn PET film containing no absorber, the CO₂ emission rate under UV illumination in wet oxygen was much higher than in dry oxygen or dry nitrogen. For as-received PET the difference between the rates observed in dry oxygen and dry nitrogen was small. For PET films that had been pre-exposed to UV (for 9 days) prior to insertion into the in situ CO₂ measurement cell the rate of CO₂ generation in oxygen was significantly larger than that in nitrogen. In both nitrogen and oxygen the presence of UV absorbers significantly decreased the rate of CO₂ generation.     

Photo-electrochemical and photocatalytic properties of chemically-treated and thermally-annealed titanium dioxide films

Chemical treatment followed by thermal annealing of titanium dioxide nanoparticle film surfaces with urea or ammonium acetate were found to exert a profound influence on their photoelectrochemical or photocatalytic activity. These films were dip-coated over conducting substrates, then dipped in urea or ammonium acetate aqueo us solutions, and finally baked at 300 or 500°C to yield two sets of chemically-treated TiO₂ (CT-TiO₂) films. The incident photon to electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of the CT-TiO₂ films in the near-UV region was significantly higher compared to the pristine (untreated) TiO₂ samples baked similarly at 300 or 500°C. Higher photocurrents for formate photo-oxidation were also observed for the CT-TiO₂ samples relative to their untreated TiO₂ counterparts. All the CT-TiO₂ films showed better photocatalytic activity toward Cr(VI) reduction with respect to their untreated TiO₂ counterparts. The enhanced performance of the CT-TiO₂ films was attributed to morphological changes as seen in scanning electron microscopy images. Possible reasons for the performance improvement in terms of better charge carrier separation properties of the CT-TiO₂ films are finally discussed.     

Bi2WO6 photocatalytic films fabricated by layer-by-layer technique from Bi2WO6 nanoplates and its spectral selectivity

Bi₂WO₆ multilayer films have been fabricated successfully by a layer-by-layer (LbL) technique from Bi₂WO₆ nanoplates, which show higher visible-light photoactivity (λ>420 nm) than that of Bi₂WO₆ nanoplate powders and P25 TiO₂ films. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. Photocatalytic activities of the films were evaluated by the rhodamine B (RhB) decomposition under UV and visible-light irradiation. Thickness and photoactivity of the film can be modified easily by changing the deposition cycles. Bi₂WO₆ films have the spectral selectivity of the photocatalytic degradation of RhB. Under the wavelength greater than 300 nm, the RhB molecules tend to be transformed to rhodamine over Bi₂WO₆ films selectively. However, in the case of shorter wavelength (λ=254 nm) light irradiation, the RhB molecules can be photodegraded completely.     

Preparation and Characterization of Bismuth Doped TiO2 Thin Films

A series of Bismuth-doped titanium oxide (Bi-doped TiO₂) thin films on glass substrates have been prepared by sol-gel dip coating process. The prepared catalysts were characterized by XRD and XPS. The photocatlytic activity of the thin film catalysts was evaluated through the photodegradation of aqueous methyl orange under UV illumination. The experiments demonstrated that the Bi-doped TiO₂ prepared was anatase phase. The doped bismuth was in the 3⁺ oxidation state. The presence of Bi significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ films. At calcination temperature of 500°C, with doping concentration of 2 wt %, Bi-doped TiO₂ thin film showed the highest photocatalyic activity.     

Recent advances in heterogeneous TiO2 photocatalysis

Current progress in the area of photocatalysis is presented, particularly regarding technological applications. Highly efficient TiO₂ films on different substrates such as tile and glass have been developed for indoor environmental clean-up. TiO₂ films coated on SiO₂-precoated soda lime glass showed about 80% transparency and high photocatalytic activity towards the decomposition of thin oil films. A novel phenomenon, superhydrophilicity, has been observed on these transparent TiO₂ coatings. In addition, we have made use of a microelectrode system to monitor oxidation and reduction products separately. The mechanistic and kinetic aspects of TiO₂ photocatalysis are discussed.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence of anatase TiO₂ nanotubes film

Highly ordered titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotubes film was successfully synthesized via anodic oxidation of a Ti foil in an ammonium fluoride-based ethylene glycol solution. The electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) behavior of the resulting TiO₂ nanotubes film was subsequently studied. Strong ECL emission was observed at −1.40 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and the ECL spectrum displayed three emission peaks which were bathochromatically shifted by ca. 140 nm as compared to its corresponding photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks, indicating that the surface state plays an important role in the emission process. The ECL emission can also occur in a deareated solution attributing to the surface adsorbed O₂ molecules. The ECL emission intensity was quenched by dopamine and greatly enhanced in the presence of dissolved O₂ and H₂O₂, making it possible to detect these analytes. The TiO₂ nanotubes film has been successfully applied to determine the dissolved O₂ content in river and pond water samples, the H₂O₂ concentration in commercial disinfectant samples and the dopamine concentration in commercial dopamine injections with satisfactory results. The plausible ECL mechanisms of TiO₂ nanotubes film in aqueous solution are discussed.     

Influence of temperature and light intensity on the photocuring process and kinetics parameters of a pigmented UV curable system

The photopolymerization of pigmented coatings is a great challenge and hardly investigated in the literature. Therefore, in this work, the effect of photopolymerization temperature and light intensity on the curing behavior of a TiO₂-pigmented UV curable epoxy acrylate system was investigated by using photo-differential scanning calorimetry (photo-DSC) analysis. The rate of conversion and ultimate conversion at four different temperatures (i.e., 25, 45, 65, and 85 °C) and four light intensities (i.e. 2, 20, 40 and 80 mW cm^?2) for unpigmented and pigmented formulations were measured. The effect of photo-polymerization temperature and light intensity on the kinetics constants was also evaluated. It was observed that the rate of conversion and final conversion values were affected by the temperature and UV-light intensity. It was seen that the rate of conversion and ultimate conversion had their maximum values at 65 °C for unpigmented formulations. However, in pigmented formulations, these two parameters improved by increasing the temperature even up to 85 °C. Increasing the temperature caused an increase in the amount of propagation and termination rate constants in both pigmented and unpigmented formulations although the changes in the pigmented formulation were more pronounced. It was observed that the rate of polymerization and ultimate conversion for unpigmented formulations increased by increasing the light intensity up to 20 mW cm^?2 and then decreased. On the other hand, it was found that these two parameters increased by increasing light intensity up to 40 mW cm^?2 when pigmented formulations used. Finally, the dependence of termination and propagation kinetics constants on light intensity was established for both unpigmented and pigmented coatings.     

Photodegradation of Methanol Under UV–Visible Irradiation by Titania Dispersed on Polyester Cloth

Titania supported on polyester fabric (TiO₂–PY) with varying titania loadings (2–7 wt%) were prepared via the dip-coating method at room temperature using an aqueous slurry of anatase titania. Structural and morphological characterizations by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the titanium dioxide crystallites deposited on the surface of the polyester fabric were in the micrometer range while their phase remained to be anatase. Photocatalytic activity of TiO₂–PY fabric catalysts was evaluated for vapor-phase oxidation of methanol in air as a test reaction in the presence of UV as well as solar radiation under ambient conditions. These catalysts were found to be quite active in both UV and solar irradiation with activity being higher in the former case. CO₂ yield from photo-oxidation of methanol depended on titania content and also on its dispersion over polyester fabric support.     

Atomic layer deposition of TiO2−xNx thin films for photocatalytic applications

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is recognized as the most efficient photocatalytic material, but due to its large band gap energy it can only be excited by UV irradiation. Doping TiO₂ with nitrogen is a promising modification method for the utilization of visible light in photocatalysis. In this work, nitrogen-doped TiO₂ films were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using TiCl₄, NH₃ and water as precursors. All growth experiments were done at 500 °C. The films were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM and UV–vis spectrometry. The influence of nitrogen doping on the photocatalytic activity of the films in the UV and visible light was evaluated by the degradation of a thin layer of stearic acid and by linear sweep voltammetry. Light-induced superhydrophilicity of the films was also studied. It was found that the films could be excited by visible light, but they also suffered from increased recombination.     

Antireflective and Self-cleaning Properties of SiO2/TiO2 Double-Layer Films Prepared by Cost-E ective Sol-Gel Process

SiO₂/TiO₂ double-layer films with antireflective and self-cleaning properties were prepared by dip-coating glass substrate into cost-effective SiO₂ and TiO₂ sol successively and subse-quently being calcined at 500 oC. The optical and structural properties of films have been in-vestigated by UV-visible spectrophotometer and field emission scanning electron microscope, respectively. At the same time, self-cleaning property generated from superhydrophilicity and photocatalysis was obtained. The results indicated that the as-prepared SiO₂/TiO₂ double-layer films show maximum transmittance of 95% and self-cleaning property.     

Ni控制掺杂TiO2薄膜的光电化学及光催化活性

采用溶胶-凝胶法通过分步控制工艺制备了镍离子不同掺杂方式的TiO₂薄膜。通过甲基橙的光催化降解动力学来表征其光催化活性。结果表明：镍离子非均匀掺杂在掺杂量0.5%时可以明显增强TiO₂的光催化活性，而均匀掺杂提高TiO₂的光催化活性较小。光电化学表征结果显示：镍离子非均匀掺杂TiO₂薄膜的瞬时光电流信号较强，说明其光生载流子易于生成且分离效果较好；循环伏安曲线表明，光照时Ni非均匀掺杂的TiO₂薄膜改变了体系的氧化还原电位，说明了薄膜内建电场的建立。基于半导体的P-N结原理探讨了镍离子非均匀掺杂TiO₂薄膜的光催化活性机理。     

Photocatalytic Oxidation of Aniline in the Gas Phase Using Porous TiO2 Thin Films

The gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation of aniline on a new kind of porous nano-TiO₂ composite films is investigated. The composite film was prepared on glass fiber with the water glass as binders and dilute H₂SO₄ solution as solidifying reagent. The surface characters were observed by scanning electron microscope. The photocatalytic degradation of aniline on the composite films was carried out in a TiO₂/UV system. Some important factors affecting the photodegradation, such as the concentration of TiO₂, the initial concentration of aniline, and the existing water vapor, are also studied. The product of photocatalytic oxidation was detected by Fourier transform-Infrared. The partial intermediate products were absorbed on TiO₂ surface, which resulted in catalyst deactivation. But when it was irradiated under UV illumination or solar irradiation for some time, the catalyst could be reused without loss of catalytic activity. Translated from the Journal of Wuhan University (Natural Science Edition), 2005, 51(2) (in Chinese)     

Highly transparent UV absorption TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> films without oxidation catalytic activity prepared by a room temperature sol–gel route

TiO₂-SiO₂-Fe₂O₃ films as new UV absorption material were prepared through an epoxide derived sol–gel route. The films were formed at room temperature by doping of a little amount of γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles in TiO₂-SiO₂. The obtained films show advantages such as high stability, efficient absorption in the UV region, high transparency in the visible range, and low oxidation catalytic activity to organic materials. It was found that 2.3 nm γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles doped films exhibit stronger UV absorption than the films doped with 5.1 nm particles because of the increased grain strain of the nanoparticles with smaller size. These advantages of the films guarantee the broad application of this inorganic UV absorption film in the protection of heat sensitive organic materials such as artworks.     

Surface properties and photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline titania films

In this work the efficiency and physicochemical details of a thin film produced by help of a microwave assisted sol gel technique is compared to different commercial powders (Degussa P25 and Hombikat UV100) deposited on glass substrates. Furthermore, a supercritical produced TiO₂ powder (SC 134) was included in the comparison.The prepared TiO₂ films were characterized using XRD, XPS, AFM, DSC and DLS. The photocatalytic activity was determined using stearic acid as a model compound. Investigation of the prepared films showed that the Degussa P25 film and the sol–gel film were the most photocatalytic active films. The activity of the films was found to be related to the crystallinity of the TiO₂ film and the amount of surface area and surface hydroxyl groups. Based on the XPS investigation of the films before and after UV irradiation it was suggested that the photocatalytic destruction of organic matter on TiO₂ films proceeds partly through formation of hydroxyl radicals which are formed from surface hydroxyl groups created by interactions between adsorbed water and vacancies on the TiO₂ surface. Furthermore a correlation between the amount of OH groups on the surface of the different TiO₂ films and the photocatalytic activity was found.     

Carbon dioxide evolution and carbonyl group development during photodegradation of polyethylene and polypropylene

In situ infrared (FTIR) spectrometry has demonstrated that more CO₂ is photogenerated from polypropylene (PP) than from polyethylene (PE) films. Potential applications of the method include investigation of polymer degradation mechanism and ranking of polymer photo-stabilities in as little as 3 h.This study focuses on clarifying the mechanism of this rapid CO₂ formation from PE and PP, and complementary insight was obtained from changes in the IR transmission spectra of films irradiated by UVA for hundreds of hours. A 30 min induction time observed for CO₂ photogeneration from PP, but not PE, was reflected, on a much longer time scale, in the induction time for carbonyl development in PP, but not PE. This suggests that, in PP, the CO₂ induction time is a consequence of the slow development of carbonyl groups, a hypothesis that is supported by the elimination of the PP induction time when, prior to the CO₂ measurements, films are pre-exposed to UVA, to generate carbonyl groups. In addition, more CO₂ is evolved from both PE and PP films if they are pre-exposed.     

TiO2@CdS core–shell nanorods films: Fabrication and dramatically enhanced photoelectrochemical properties

In this paper, we prepared TiO₂@CdS core–shell nanorods films electrodes using a simple and low-cost chemical bath deposition method. The core–shell nanorods films electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis spectrometry techniques. After applying these TiO₂@CdS core–shell nanorods electrodes in photovoltaic cells, we found that the photocurrent was dramatically enhanced, comparing with those of bare TiO₂ nanorods and CdS films electrodes. Moreover, TiO₂@CdS core–shell nanorods film electrode showed better cell performance than CdS nanoparticles deposited TiO₂ nanoparticles (P25) film electrode. A photocurrent of 1.31 mA/cm², a fill factor of 0.43, an open circuit photovoltage of 0.44 V, and a conversion efficiency of 0.8% were obtained under an illumination of 32 mW/cm², when the CdS nanoparticles deposited on TiO₂ nanorods film for about 20 min. The maximum quantum efficiency of 5.0% was obtained at an incident wavelength of 500 nm. We believe that TiO₂@CdS core–shell heterostructured nanorods are excellent candidates for studying some fundamental aspects on charge separation and transfer in the fields of photovoltaic cells and photocatalysis.     

Surface modification of thermoplastics by atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 and TiO2 thin films

Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ thin films were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 80-250 °C on various polymeric substrates such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and ethylenetetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). The films were studied with FESEM, EDX, XRD, contact angle measurements and adhesion tests. The film growth rates on the thermoplastics were close to the corresponding growth rates on Si substrates. The adhesion of the films was good on PEEK and poor on PTFE. All coated surfaces showed lower water contact angles than the uncoated thermoplastics. Furthermore, the water contact angles on all TiO₂-coated surfaces decreased upon UV illumination, most efficiently with crystalline TiO₂ coatings.     

Surface chemistry and optical property of TiO2 thin films treated by low-pressure plasma

The low temperature RF plasma treatment was used to control the surface chemistry and optical property of TiO₂ thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering with a very good uniformity at 300 °C substrate heating temperature. The XRD pattern indicates the crystalline structure of the film could be associated to amorphous structure of TiO₂ in thin film. The plasma treatment of TiO₂ film can increase the proportion of Ti³⁺ in Ti2p and decrease in carbon atoms as alcohol/ether group in C1s at the surface. The optical transmittance of the film was enhanced by 50% after the plasma treatment. The surface structure and morphology remain the same for untreated and low-pressure plasma-treated films. Therefore, increase in the optical transmission could be due to change in surface chemistry and surface cleaning by plasma treatment.     

Preparation of photocatalytic nano-ZnO/TiO2 film and application for determination of chemical oxygen demand

A composite nano-ZnO/TiO₂ film as photocatalyst was fabricated with vacuum vaporized and sol-gel methods. The nano-ZnO/TiO₂ film improved the separate efficiency of the charge and extended the range of spectrum, which showed a higher efficiency of photocatalytic than the pure nano-TiO₂ and nano-ZnO film. The photocatalytic mechanism of nano-ZnO/TiO₂ film was discussed, too. A new method for determination of low chemical oxidation demand (COD) value in ground water based on nano-ZnO/TiO₂ film using the photocatalytic oxidation technology was founded. This method was originated from the direct determination of the Mn(VII) concentration change resulting from photocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds on the nano-ZnO/TiO₂ film, and the COD values were calculated from the absorbance of Mn(VII). Under the optimal operation conditions, the detection limit of 0.1 mg l⁻¹, COD values with the linear range of 0.3-10.0 mg l⁻¹ were achieved. The results were in good agreement with those from the conventional COD methods.