Atomic scale surface modification of TiO2 3D nano-arrays: plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of NiO for photocatalysis: Plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of NiO for photocatalysis

Jerome W.F. Innocent, Mari Napari, Andrew L. Johnson, Thom R. Harris-Lee, Miriam Regue, Timo Sajavaara, Judith L. Macmanus-Driscoll, Frank Marken, Feras Alkhalil

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Here we report the development of a new scalable and transferable plasma assisted atomic layer deposition (PEALD) process for the production of uniform, conformal and pinhole free NiO with sub-nanometre control on a commercial ALD reactor. In this work we use the readily available nickel precursor nickelocene in conjunction with O2 plasma as a co-reagent (100 W) over a temperature range of 75–325 °C. An optimised growth per cycle of 0.036 nm was obtained at 250 °C with uniform thickness and coverage on scale-up to and including an 6 inch Si wafer (with a 200 nm thermal SiO2 top layer). The bulk characteristics of the NiO thin films were comprehensively interrogated by PXRD, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy and XPS. The new NiO process was subsequently used to fabricate a 3D nanostructured NiO/TiO2/FTO heterojunction by depositing 20 nm of NiO onto pre-fashioned TiO2 nanorods at 250 °C for application in the photo-electrolysis of water in a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). The NiO/TiO2 3D array was shown to possess a peak current of 0.38 mA cm−2 at 1.23 VRHE when stimulated with a one sun lamp.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-279
Number of pages7
JournalMaterials Advances
Volume2
Issue number1
Early online date12 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank PragmatIC Printing PLC (https://www.pragmatic.tech/) for funding. A. L. J. acknowledges financial support from the University of Bath and PragmatIC Printing PLC (PhD studentship to J. W. F. I), and the Department of Chemistry, University of Bath (MChem Studentship to T. R. H.-L.). J. L. M.-D. and M. N. acknowledge financial support from the E.P.S.R.C (EP/P027032/1) and the University of Cambridge. J. L. M.-D. also acknowledges the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Research Chair scheme (No.: CieT1819\24).

Funding

The authors would like to thank PragmatIC Printing PLC (https://www.pragmatic.tech/) for funding. A. L. J. acknowledges financial support from the University of Bath and PragmatIC Printing PLC (PhD studentship to J. W. F. I), and the Department of Chemistry, University of Bath (MChem Studentship to T. R. H.-L.). J. L. M.-D. and M. N. acknowledge financial support from the E.P.S.R.C (EP/P027032/1) and the University of Cambridge. J. L. M.-D. also acknowledges the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Research Chair scheme (No.: CieT1819\24).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Chemistry (miscellaneous)

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