Application of Micro-Arc Discharges during Anodization of Tantalum for Synthesis of Photocatalytic Active Ta2O5 Coatings

Ta2O5 coatings were created using micro-arc discharges (MDs) during anodization on a tantalum substrate in a sodium phosphate electrolyte (10 g/L Na3PO4·10H2O). During the process, the size of MDs increases while the number of MDs decreases. The elements and their ionization states present in MDs were identified using optical emission spectroscopy. The hydrogen Balmer line Hβ shape analysis revealed the presence of two types of MDs, with estimated electron number densities of around 1.1 × 1021 m−3 and 7.3 × 1021 m−3. The effect of MDs duration on surface morphology, phase and chemical composition, optical absorption, and photoluminescent, properties of Ta2O5 coatings, as well as their applications in photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange, were investigated. The created coatings were crystalline and were primarily composed of Ta2O5 orthorhombic phase. Since Ta2O5 coatings feature strong absorption in the ultraviolet light region below 320 nm, their photocatalytic activity is very high and increases with the time of the MDs process. This was associated with an increase of oxygen vacancy defects in coatings formed during the MDs, which was confirmed by photoluminescent measurements. The photocatalytic activity after 8 h of irradiation was around 69%, 74%, 80%, and 88% for Ta2O5 coatings created after 3 min, 5 min, 10 min, and 15 min, respectively

Photoluminescent and Photocatalytic Properties of Eu3+-Doped MgAl Oxide Coatings Formed by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of AZ31 Magnesium Alloy

The synthesis of Eu3+-doped MgAl oxide coatings containing MgO and MgAl2O4 was accomplished through plasma electrolytic oxidation of AZ31 magnesium alloy in aluminate electrolyte with the addition of Eu2O3 particles in various concentrations. Their morphological, structural, and above all, photoluminescent (PL) and photocatalytic activity (PA) were thoroughly investigated. PL emission spectra of MgAl oxide coatings feature characteristic emission peaks, which are ascribed to f–f transitions of Eu3+ ions from excited level 5D0 to lower levels 7FJ. The charge transfer state of Eu3+ or direct excitation of the Eu3+ ground state 7F0 into higher levels of the 4f-manifold are both attributed to the PL peaks that appear in the excitation PL spectra of the obtained coatings. The fact that the transition 5D0 → 7F2 (electrical dipole transition) in Eu3+-doped MgAl oxide coatings is considerably stronger than the transition 5D0 → 7F1 (magnetic dipole transition) indicates that Eu3+ ions occupied sites with non-inversion symmetry. Because of oxygen vacancy formation, the Eu3+-doped MgAl oxide coatings had a higher PA in the degradation of methyl orange than the pure MgAl oxide coating. The highest PA was found in Eu3+-doped MgAl oxide coating formed in an aluminate electrolyte with 4 g/L of Eu2O3 particles. The PA, morphology, and phase of Eu3+-doped MgAl oxide coatings did not change after several consecutive runs, indicating outstanding stability of these photocatalysts

ZnO Particles Modified MgAl Coatings with Improved Photocatalytic Activity Formed by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of AZ31 Magnesium Alloy in Aluminate Electrolyte

MgAl and MgAl/ZnO coatings were prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of AZ31 magnesium alloy in aluminate electrolyte (5 g/L NaAlO2) without and with addition of ZnO particles in various concentrations. The MgAl coating was partially crystallized and contained MgO and MgAl2O4 phases. The addition of ZnO particles to aluminate electrolyte had no significant effect on the surface morphology of formed coatings, while the Zn content increased with ZnO particle concentrations. X-ray diffraction confirmed the incorporation of ZnO particles in the coatings. The photodegradation of methyl orange (10 cm3 of 8 mg/L) was used to measure the photocatalytic activity (PA) of MgAl and MgAl/ZnO coatings. The PA of MgAl coating after 8 h of irradiation was around 58%, while the PA of MgAl/ZnO coatings formed in aluminate electrolyte with the addition of ZnO particles in concentrations of 4 g/L, 8 g/L, and 12 g/L were around 69%, 86%, and 97%, respectively

Morphology and fractal dimension of tio2 thin films

The influence of annealing temperature on the morphology and surface fractal dimension of titanium dioxide (TiO2) films prepared via the spray deposition process was investigated. Thin films with various morphologies were obtained at different temperatures and characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the crystalline structure of TiO2 films depends strongly on annealing temperature. At higher temperatures, the partial phase transformation of anatase-to-rutile was observed. The morphology and surface fractal dimensions were evaluated by image analysis methods based on AFM micrographs. The results indicate that the value of surface roughness (the standard deviation of the height values within the given area of AFM image) of TiO(2)films increases with increasing annealing temperature. Fractal analysis revealed that the value of the fractal dimension of the samples decreases slowly from 2.23 to 2.15 following the annealing process

Formation and Properties of Oxide Coatings with Immobilized Zeolites Obtained by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Aluminum

In this paper, we employed plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of aluminum in a water solution of sodium tungstate (Na2WO42H2O) with the addition of the pure and Ce-loaded zeolites clinoptilolite and 13 X for the preparation of oxide coatings. The obtained coatings were characterized with respect to their morphologies and chemical and phase compositions using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The prepared coatings contained gamma-alumina, WO3, and metallic tungsten. The surface morphologies of the obtained coatings strongly depended on the PEO processing time; the roughness of all coatings increased with PEO time, while porosity decreased with PEO processing time as a result of microdischarge coalescence and growth. All coatings contained elements originating from the substrate and from the electrolytes. Coatings containing zeolites with Ce showed higher photoactivity than those with immobilized pure zeolites. The highest photocatalytic activity levels were observed for coatings containing immobilized Ce-exchanged clinoptilolite processed for 10 min. It was observed that both clinoptilolite and 13X zeolites improved the features of the PEO coatings in a similar manner, making natural and abundant clinoptilolite an excellent candidate for various applications

Formation and Properties of Oxide Coatings with Immobilized Zeolites Obtained by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Aluminum

In this paper, we employed plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of aluminum in a water solution of sodium tungstate (Na2WO4 center dot 2H(2)O) with the addition of the pure and Ce-loaded zeolites clinoptilolite and 13 X for the preparation of oxide coatings. The obtained coatings were characterized with respect to their morphologies and chemical and phase compositions using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The prepared coatings contained gamma-alumina, WO3, and metallic tungsten. The surface morphologies of the obtained coatings strongly depended on the PEO processing time; the roughness of all coatings increased with PEO time, while porosity decreased with PEO processing time as a result of microdischarge coalescence and growth. All coatings contained elements originating from the substrate and from the electrolytes. Coatings containing zeolites with Ce showed higher photoactivity than those with immobilized pure zeolites. The highest photocatalytic activity levels were observed for coatings containing immobilized Ce-exchanged clinoptilolite processed for 10 min. It was observed that both clinoptilolite and 13X zeolites improved the features of the PEO coatings in a similar manner, making natural and abundant clinoptilolite an excellent candidate for various applications

Characterization and photocatalytic properties of tungsten doped TiO2 coatings on aluminum obtained by plasma electrolytic oxidation

This paper presents a recent investigation of rapid deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles on aluminum by plasma electrolytic oxidation in Na2SiO3 center dot 5H(2)O water based electrolyte with addition of TiO2 nanoparticles and Na2WO4 center dot 2H(2)O. Oxide coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. It was found that surface morphology, chemical and phase compositions of obtained coatings depend on electrolyte composition and processing time. The photocatalytic activity was tested by photodegrading methyl orange under simulated sunlight conditions. It was observed that photodegradation of methyl orange strongly depends on the concentration of TiO2 nanoparticles and sodium tungstate in the electrolyte and PEO treatment time. Coatings with the highest photoactivity were obtained in 4 g/L Na2SiO3 center dot 5H(2)O + 2 g/L Degussa P25 + 0.1 g/L Na2WO4 center dot 2H(2)O

Characterization of Al-W oxide coatings on aluminum formed by pulsed direct current plasma electrolytic oxidation at ultra-low duty cycles

The growth of thin oxide coatings on the aluminum substrate in water-based sodium tungstate electrolyte by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is discussed and experimentally illustrated. The growth is carried out using a distinctive ultra-low duty cycle pulsed direct current (DC) power supply. During the PEO processing elements present in micro-discharges are identified using standard optical emission spectroscopy (OES) technique. The spectral line shape analysis of the first two hydrogen Balmer lines shows the presence of two types of micro-discharges. Obtained coatings are also characterized with respect to their morphology and chemical and phase composition. It is shown that coatings are composed of Al, O, and W, featuring low roughness and porosity. Partial crystallization of the coatings resulted in identification of WO3, W3O8, and gamma-Al2O3 crystalline phases

One-step preparation and photocatalytic performance of vanadium doped TiO2 coatings

In this paper, we have investigated one-step preparation of vanadium doped TiO2 coatings formed by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) of titanium in electrolyte containing 10 g/L Na3PO4 center dot 12H(2)O + 0.5 g/L NH4VO3. The morphology, phase structure, and elemental composition of the formed coatings were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) was employed to evaluate the band gap energy of obtained coatings. Vanadium doped TiO2 coatings are partly crystallized and mainly composed of anatase phase TiO2, with up to about 2 wt% of vanadium present in the surface layer of the oxide. The valence band photoelectron spectra and UV-Vis DRS showed that vanadium doped TiO2 coatings exhibit notable red shift with respect to the pure TiO2 coatings. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by monitoring the degradation of methyl orange under simulated sunlight conditions. Photocatalytic activity of vanadium doped TiO2 coatings increases with PEO time. Prolonged PEO times result in higher roughness of obtained coatings, thus increasing surface area available for methyl orange degradation. Vanadium doped TiO2 coatings obtained after 180 s of PEO time exhibit the best photocatalytic activity and about 67% of methyl orange is degraded after 12 h of irradiation under simulated sunlight

Fractal approach to surface roughness of TiO2/WO3 coatings formed by plasma electrolytic oxidation process

In this study, we have shown that atomic force microscopy is a powerful technique to study the fractal parameters of TiO2/WO3 coatings prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process. Since the surface roughness of obtained oxide coatings affects their physical properties, an accurate description of roughness parameters is highly desirable. The surface roughness, described by root mean squared and arithmetic average values, is analyzed considering the scans of a series of atomic force micrographs. The results show that the oxide coatings exhibit lower surface roughness in initial stage of PEO process. Also, the surfaces of TiO2/WO3 coatings exhibit fractal behavior. Positive correlation between the fractal dimension and surface roughness of the surfaces of TiO2/WO3 coatings in initial stage of PEO process was found