Band-gap engineering of zirconia by nitrogen doping in reactive HiPIMS: a step forward in developing innovative technologies for photocatalysts synthesis.

ABSTRACT: In the global context of climate change and carbon neutrality, this work proposes a strategy to improve the light absorption of photocatalytic water-splitting materials into the visible spectrum by anion doping. In this framework, reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) of a pure Zr target in Ar/N₂/O₂ gas mixture was used for the deposition of crystalline zirconium oxynitride (ZrO_2-xN_x) thin films with variable nitrogen doping concentration and energy band-gap. The nitrogen content into these films was controlled by the discharge pulsing frequency, which controls the target surface poisoning and peak discharge current. The role of the nitrogen doping on the optical, structural, and photocatalytic properties of ZrO_2-xN

SUBMITTER: Matei T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10448390 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature