Development of photocatalytic nanostructured TiO2 and NiO/TiO2 coatings by DC magnetron sputtering for photocatalytic applications

High photocatalytic activity layers were obtained by combining a TiO2 nanostructured coating support with 10 nm and 20 nm NiO layers synthesized by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. In order to improve the TiO2 crystallinity several sputtering process parameters were studied. The TiO2 and NiO/TiO2 coatings were char-acterized through XPS, XRD, FESEM, AFM and UV transmittance measurements, in the latter case, for band gap determination. The photocatalytic activity of the coatings was tested through methylene blue degradation under UV light. The formation of a p-n heterojunction between the TiO2 and NiO layers improved the degradation rates, compared to the bare TiO2 layers; however, almost no difference can be seen when increasing the NiO sputtering power and subsequently the coating thickness to higher values than 20 nm.