IMPACT OF NANOSTRUCTURE TYPES AND THIN FILM THICKNESS ON THE PHOTOCATALYTIC PERFORMANCE OF TiO2/V2O5 COMPOSITE COATINGS

Abstract

Titanium dioxide is a very promising compound for various applications. One of the important areas of applicability is photocatalysis. The wide bandgap of the titanium dioxide limits its photocatalytic activity by the utilization of the ultraviolet area of the irradiation, which is ~ 3%. Expanding the area to visible light spectra is possible by doping titanium dioxide with metals and their oxides. Vanadium pentoxide is one of the widespread dopants that allows the narrowing of the bandgap and improves the efficiency of titanium dioxide-based photoanodes. Research into the area of the improvement of titanium dioxide photocatalytic performance with the help of vanadium pentoxide is widespread and in high demand. In this research, for the first time, the effect of vanadium pentoxide thin film thickness on the photoanode based on titanium dioxide nanostructured substrates of various types was studied. An optimal thickness of that thin film was discovered that allows one to increase in the photocurrent density of the photoanode up to 400%.