Ag-modified vanadium oxide photocatalytic thin films deposited by a two parallel ablation plasmas configuration

Abstract

The application of a two ablation plasmas configuration to deposit vanadium oxide thin films modified with different amounts of silver is reported. In this configuration, two parallel plasmas are produced ablating simultaneously two different targets, V and Ag, to form the Ag-modified vanadium oxide thin films. The ablation of the vanadium target is performed under constant conditions in all deposits, while the silver produced plasma is varied. The effect of the amount of Ag incorporated in the films on their compositional, morphological, structural, and photocatalytic properties is studied. The results reveal that films with variable Ag content from 0.6 to 17.2 at. % are obtained. Depending on the silver content, the samples show very different surface morphologies from smooth surfaces to acicular structures in films containing Ag. Raman spectra reveal that as the silver content is increased different vanadium oxides coexist and at the highest Ag content a silver vanadate is formed. The photocatalytic activity for the degradation of the Malachite Green dye under simulated solar light is determined. It is found that in general terms, films containing silver show a higher photocatalytic response than V2O5 films alone