Deposition of nanostructured photocatalytic zinc ferrite films using solution precursor plasma spraying

• Deposition of pure spinel phase, photocatalytic zinc ferrite films on SS-304 substrates by solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) has been demonstrated for the first time. Deposition parameters such as precursor solution pH, concentration, film thickness, plasma power and gun-substrate distance were found to control physico-chemical properties of the film, with respect to their crystallinity, phase purity, and morphology. Alkaline precursor conditions (7 < pH ≤ 10) were found to favor oxide film formation. The nanostructured films produced under optimized conditions, with 500 mM solution at pH ∼ 8.0, yielded pure cubic phase ZnFe 2O 4 film. Very high/low precursor concentrations yielded mixed phase, less adherent, and highly inhomogeneous thin films. Desired spinel phase was achieved in as-deposited condition under appropriately controlled spray conditions and exhibited a band gap of ∼1.9 eV. The highly porous nature of the films favored its photocatalytic performance as indicated by methylene blue de-coloration under solar radiation. These immobilized films display good potential for visible light photocatalytic applications. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nyckelord

A. Electronic Materials

A. Nanostructures

B. Plasma Deposition

Crystallinities

Cubic phase

Deposition Parameters

Electronic materials

Film formations

Inhomogeneous thin films

Methylene Blue

Mixed phase

Nano-structured

Nanostructured Films

Optimized conditions

Phase purity

Photo-catalytic

Photocatalytic application

Photocatalytic performance

Physicochemical property

Plasma power

Porous nature

Precursor concentration

Precursor solutions

Solution precursor

Spinel phase

Spray conditions

Visible light

Zinc-ferrite films

Alkalinity

Oxide films

pH

Pinch effect

Plasma jets

Plasma spraying

Substrates

Sun

Zinc compounds

Plasma deposition

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