Low-Temperature (70° C) Ambient Air Plasma-Fabrication of Inkjet-Printed Mesoporous TiO2 Flexible Photoanodes
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Flexible and Printed Electronics |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-8585/aa88e6 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2058-8585/aa88e6 |
| Field | Plasma physics |
| Keywords | plasma treatment;ambient air plasma;TiO2 flexible photoanode;mesoporous coating;roll-to-roll processing;inkjet printing |
| Description | Titania/silica electron-generating and -transporting nanocomposite 300-nm layers of high porosity were deposited onto ITO/PET flexible foils using inkjet printing. Prior to printing, the ITO surface had been modified by novel low-temperature ambient air roll-to-roll plasma in order to enhance its surface properties by removing carbon and oxygen contaminants, a process that led to rapid improvement of surface energy. Consequently the ITO work function, an important parameter involving charge injection efficiency in energy harvesting systems, increased by 1 eV. Afterwards, the TiO2/methyl-silica ink exhibited excellent wetting on a 2-s plasma-treated ITO surface. The coating was further processed/mineralized by an additional low-temperature ambient air plasma treatment step. The plasma processing of raw photoanodes led to the mineralization of the methyl-silica binder which resulted in the formation of a fully inorganic TiO2/SiO2 mesoporous structure and significantly increased electrophotocatalytic activity, leading to increased photocurrents. The entire two-step plasma process was performed at low-temperature (70 °C) and high speeds, enabling practical applications of such a procedure for large-area fabrication of flexible photoanodes. |
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