Role of Hydrogen-Related Defects in Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition
Role of Hydrogen-Related Defects in Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition
Peter, R.; Salamon, K.; Omerzu, A.; Grenzer, J.; Badovinac, I. J.; Saric, I.; Petravic, M.
The photocatalytic activity of ZnO films, grown by atomic layer deposition on sapphire, was investigated for different amounts of residual hydrogen incorporated unintentionally into the matrix during the crystal growth. A close correlation was found between the level of incorporated hydrogen ; the rate of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue on ZnO films. The rate of degradation is consistent with predominantly zero-order reaction kinetics. An enhanced photocatalytic activity, observed for films of predominantly (001)-oriented grains ; low concentration of residual hydrogen, is explained by the reduced number of hydrogen-related defects responsible for recombination of charge carriers in combination with the preferential adsorption of water on polar (001) surfaces of ZnO grains.
Keywords: atomic layer deposition; photocatalytic degradation
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Journal of Physical Chemistry C 124(2020)16, 165116
Online First (2020) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c01519
Cited 14 times in Scopus
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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-30899