A comparative study of a direct and pulse electrodeposition method of TiO2 films and its effect on photoelectrocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye

Abstract:

The present study reports the titanium dioxide (TiO2) films synthesized from TiCl3 precursor on ITO glass substrates using two electrochemical techniques, namely direct electro-deposition (DE) and pulse electro-deposition (PE). The synthesis potential during the time-on (Ton) period was fixed at −1.5 V. However, the open-circuit potential was applied during the time-off (Toff) period. The effect of the technique of electro-deposition and Toff duration on the properties of TiO2 films and their photoelectron-catalytic activity were investigated. The obtained films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-VIS spectrometer, and photocurrent measurement respectively. It is found that the use of the PE technique at different Toff improves the properties of TiO2 films compared to the DE technique. The XRD patterns show the anatase phase with a marked preferential orientation along the (101) direction for all samples. From the SEM analysis, it is seen a significant change from big multigrain agglomerates at DE to a dense film structure and small multigrain agglomerates at different Toff. As the Toff decreases from 3 s to 1 s, the photocurrent response rises and reaches a high value of about 12 mA/cm2. Compared with DE, and under UV light the photocatalytic property of TiO2 film synthesis via PE has been improved in the degradation of methyl orange (MO). Finally, the films deposited at low Toff (Toff =1 s) show a faster degradation of MO.