Nanostructure of TiO\(_{2}\) and WO\(_{3}\) multilayer films deposited on ITO glass for electrochromic enhanced photocatalytic activity

Atsakorn CHUENKRUIT; Watcharaporn THONGJOON; Kamon AIEMPANAKIT; Montri AIEMPANAKIT; Chantana  AIEMPANAKIT

doi:10.55713/jmmm.v34i4.1964

Authors

Atsakorn CHUENKRUIT Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, 12121, Thailand
Watcharaporn THONGJOON Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, 12121, Thailand
Kamon AIEMPANAKIT Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, 12121, Thailand
Montri AIEMPANAKIT Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom, 73000, Thailand
Chantana AIEMPANAKIT Division of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Pathumthani, 12110, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55713/jmmm.v34i4.1964

Keywords:

oblique angle deposition, TiO2, WO3, electrochromic, photocatalytic

Abstract

The photocatalytic activity (PA) by electrochromic (EC) enhancement of single and multilayer films of TiO₂, WO₃, TiO₂/WO₃, and WO₃/TiO₂ was investigated. All films were deposited from metal on an ITO glass substrate using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering via an oblique angle deposition (OAD) technique at 85°. Subsequently, a thermal oxidation (TO) process at 500℃ was applied for the samples to form metal oxide films. The morphology, elemental composition, crystal structure, and optical properties were studied by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and UV-vis spectroscopy, respectively. The photocatalytic properties were investigated by showing the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) solution as an organic pollutant that was examined under ultraviolet irradiation of 300 µW∙cm^‒2. The film samples were investigated by comparing the pre-color and colored states that were achieved through the EC process. The EC properties of WO₃ led to increased charge insertion on the film surface. This observation was further supported by cyclic voltammetry (CV) testing, which revealed a higher current density for the thin film samples. The photodegradation results showed that the samples in the colored state exhibited a significantly higher degradation rate of MB compared to the pre-color state.

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