Discovery

Poster

ALD grown Co₃O₄ as a co-catalyst in photocatalysis

Jiyeon Kim, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Tomi Iivonen, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Radim Beranek, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Anjana Devi, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Cobalt oxide together with TiO₂ is a promising photocatalyst due to its enhanced catalytic activity compared to the undoped TiO₂.[1] Cobalt oxide is a co-catalysts and it takes part in the charge separation and oxygen reduction reaction in the photocatalytic system.[2] Although cobalt oxides possess highly potential applications, the available literature on nanostructured cobalt oxide is limited compared to other metal oxides. In order to achieve an enhanced catalytic activity, a defined morphology and highly controlled thickness of the deposited co-catalysts are required.

Currently we have been working on the Co₃O₄ thin film growth via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique, which allows access to the aforementioned requirements.[3] Depositions have been performed on Si(100) substrate and also on the FTO (Fluorine doped Tin Oxide) substrate by ozone assisted ALD process. Deposited films were characterized to confirm the structure, chemical composition and morphology. Further analysis in terms of optical properties and preliminary catalytic tests will be presented and discussed in the presentation.

References
[1] Irie, H.; Kamiya, K.; Shibanuma, T.; Miura, S.; Tryk, D. A.; Yokoyama, T.; Hashimoto, K. J. Phys. Chem. C 2009, 113, 10761
[2] Tang, J.; Durrant, J. R.; Klug, D. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 13885
[3] Leskelä, M.; Ritala, M. Thin Solid Films 2002, 409, 138

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