Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
  • Publication
    Mesoporous Structure of Doped and Undoped PEG on Ag/TiO2 Thin Film
    In this reaserch, photocatalyst silver titanium dioxide was doped and modified by Polyethylene Glycol (PEG). The purpose of the present study was to analyse the synthesized Ag/TiO2 thin film doped and undoped PEG. Ag/TiO2 thin films on silicon wafer have been prepared by sol-gel spin coating. The samples were characterized by Grazing Incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The doped and undoped PEG Ag/TiO2 thin films showed a mesoporous TiO2 matrix which includes TiO2 crystallites of 10-20 nm in size and small Ag nanoparticles (white spots) with various sizes ranging from 10 to 30 nm. However, doped PEG Ag/TiO2 thin film showed the Ag nanoparticles became agglomerates but still remained roughly uniform on the surface.
  • Publication
    Effect of graphene oxide on microstructure and optical properties of TiO2 thin film
    ( 2019-01-01)
    Azani A.
    ;
    ;
    Razak K.A.
    ;
    ;
    Mohd Salleh M.A.A.
    ;
    Abdul Razak M.F.S.
    ;
    ;
    Ramli M.M.
    ;
    ;
    Chobpattana V.
    GO/TiO2 thin films have been synthesized from titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) by a sol-gel method. The films were deposited onto a glass substrate using spin coating deposition technique then were subjected to annealed process at 350 °C. The different amount of graphene oxide (GO) was added into the parent solution of sol in order to investigate the microstructure, topography, optical band gap and photocatalytic activity of the thin films. The prepared thin films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-VIS spectrophotometry and degradation of methylene blue (MB). AFM images reveal a rougher surface of GO/TiO2 thin film than bare TiO2 thin film due to GO particles. Moreover, the SEM images showed the formation of semispherical microstructure of bare TiO2 changes to some larger combined molecules with GO addition. The UV-Vis spectrophotometer results show that with optical direct energy gap decreases from 3.30 to 3.18 eV after GO addition due to the effect of high surface roughness and bigger grain size. Furthermore, the optical results also indicated that GO improved the optical properties of TiO2 in the visible range region.
  • Publication
    Potential Applications of Geopolymer Cement-Based Composite as Self-Cleaning Coating: A Review
    Nowadays, concepts of self-cleaning have received great attention in construction building materials. Self-cleaning with the presence of photocatalyst has been applied in building materials to overcome the problem of building surfaces becoming dirty after exposure for a long time in highly polluted areas. To date, the concept of green blending materials has led to the development of a new binding material for green materials, which is geopolymer with an addition of photocatalyst. This review focused on the development of conventional self-cleaning paste, including the method of preparation and the impact of adding photocatalyst on physical and mechanical properties. However, although self-cleaning has been widely applied in conventional cement paste, its applications in geopolymers are still in the early stages of development and require more research. Therefore, this paper also intended to review the current knowledge on properties of geopolymer cement-based composite and its potential to be applied as a self-cleaning coating.
      1
  • Publication
    Effect of polyethylene glycol and sodium dodecyl sulphate on microstructure and self-cleaning properties of graphene oxide/TiO2 thin film
    In this study, a sol gel procedure for preparation of TiO2 thin films with graphene oxide (GO) was developed. The effect of PEG and SDS addition on the microstructure of the films as well as the photocatalytic activity of the thin film was also investigated. The morphology and surface structure of the films were studied by SEM and AFM while the photocatalytic activity of the films was analyzed by measuring the degradation of methylene blue under sunlight irradiation using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that GO/TiO2 thin film with PEG shows a smaller and porous particle while GO/TiO2 thin film with SDS formed a very smooth surface and very fine particles. Therefore, in AFM analysis reveals that surface roughness decreases with the addition of PEG and SDS. Finally, the photocatalytic activity showed that GO/TiO2 thin film with SDS have the most effective self-cleaning property which degrade 64% of methylene blue that act as model of contaminants.
      1
  • Publication
    Self-cleaning property of ag/tio2 thin film
    Ag/TiO2 thin film was prepared by the sol-gel method through the hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide and silver nitrate solution. Spin coating method was used to get uniform film on ITO glass substrate followed by annealing process for 1 hour. After that, all the samples were characterised using GIXRD and FESEM and undergone water contact angle test and MB degradation. Silver ion concentrations were varied to observe the effect on crystalline state, morphology, wettability and photocatalytic properties. The results showed that Ag/TiO2 thin film was in anatase phase and it could degrade nearly 70% of methylene blue after 150 min illumination. The formed Ag/TiO2 thin film has excellent self-cleaning property with compact, continuous, smooth, and good hydrophilicity property.
      2
  • Publication
    Factors of Controlling the Formation of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Synthesized using Sol-gel Method - A Short Review
    There have been experiments on TiO2 thin films synthesized utilizing sol-gel techniques. The sol-gel method is a straightforward technology that gives numerous benefits to the researcher, for instance, material's reliability, reproducibility, and controllability. Following from there, it can be utilized to make high-quality nano-structured thin films. According to previous studies, the TiO2 films' characteristics occur to be highly dependent on the production parameters and initial materials utilized. Controlling the formation of TiO2 thin films with the sol-gel method was momentarily discussed here.
      1
  • Publication
    Microstructural Study on Ag/TiO2 Thin Film
    The synthesis of Ag/TiO2 thin film was carried out by the sol–gel spin coating method using ITO glass as a substrate in a short period of stirring time, which is less than 25 min. The produced films were annealed in a furnace at 500◦C for 1 h. Various concentrations of AgNO3, from 0.1 to 0.9 M, were added. The as-prepared films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The results indicate that all films showed a single phase of anatase, TiO2. Ag/TiO2 thin films with 0.1 M of AgNO3 solution show that the elements form networks connecting Ag/TiO2 microstructures forming a porous, consistent, and continuous layer on the substrate surface.
      1
  • Publication
    Enhancement of Power Conversion Efficiency with Zinc Oxide as Photoanode and Cyanococcus, Punica granatum L., and Vitis vinifera as Natural Fruit Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
    ( 2022-11-01) ; ; ;
    Jamalullail N.
    ;
    ; ;
    Sandu A.V.
    ;
    Baltatu M.S.
    ;
    Vizureanu P.
    Ruthenium N719 is a well-known material used as the dye in commercial dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. However, it poses risks to human health and the environment over time. On the other hand, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has low electron mobility and high recombination losses when used as a photoanode in this photovoltaic technology device. In addition, using Ruthenium as the dye material harms the environment and human health. As an alternative sensitizer to compensate Ruthenium on two different photoanodes (TiO2 and ZnO), we constructed DSSC devices in this study using three different natural dyes (blueberry, pomegranate, and black grape). In good agreement with the anthocyanin content in the fruits, black grape, with the highest anthocyanin content (450.3 mg/L) compared to other fruit dyes (blueberry—386.6 mg/L and pomegranate—450.3 mg/L), resulted in the highest energy conversion efficiency (3.63%) for the natural dye-based DSSC. Furthermore, this research proved that the electrical performance of natural dye sensitizer in DSSC applications with a ZnO photoanode is better than using hazardous Ru N719 dye with a TiO2 photoanode owing to the advantage of high electron mobility in ZnO.
      2
  • Publication
    Enhancement of Power Conversion Efficiency with Zinc Oxide as Photoanode and Cyanococcus, Punica granatum L., and Vitis vinifera as Natural Fruit Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
    ( 2022-11-01) ; ; ;
    Nurnaeimah Jamalullail
    ;
    ; ;
    Sandu A.V.
    ;
    Baltatu M.S.
    ;
    Vizureanu P.
    Ruthenium N719 is a well-known material used as the dye in commercial dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. However, it poses risks to human health and the environment over time. On the other hand, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has low electron mobility and high recombination losses when used as a photoanode in this photovoltaic technology device. In addition, using Ruthenium as the dye material harms the environment and human health. As an alternative sensitizer to compensate Ruthenium on two different photoanodes (TiO2 and ZnO), we constructed DSSC devices in this study using three different natural dyes (blueberry, pomegranate, and black grape). In good agreement with the anthocyanin content in the fruits, black grape, with the highest anthocyanin content (450.3 mg/L) compared to other fruit dyes (blueberry—386.6 mg/L and pomegranate—450.3 mg/L), resulted in the highest energy conversion efficiency (3.63%) for the natural dye-based DSSC. Furthermore, this research proved that the electrical performance of natural dye sensitizer in DSSC applications with a ZnO photoanode is better than using hazardous Ru N719 dye with a TiO2 photoanode owing to the advantage of high electron mobility in ZnO.
      1
  • Publication
    Magnetic-Based Coreshell Nanoparticles as Potential Adsorbents for the Removal of Cu2+ under Ultraviolet (UV) Light
    The magnetite (Fe3O4) and maghemite (gFe2O3) nanoparticles, magnetite-silica-silver chloride (Fe3O4-SiO2-AgCl) and maghemite-silica-silver chloride (gFe2O3-SiO2-AgCl) coreshell structures have successfully been synthesized by using a simple wet chemistry method. The efficiency of these particles as the adsorbents for the removal of copper ion, Cu2+ in aqueous solution under UV light was investigated. Two different parameters were studied, namely the adsorbents contact time (60, 120, 180, 240 and 300s) and the solution-stirring rate (100, 200 and 300 rpm). From the results, the removal percentage of the copper ions from the solution were above 90% after 5 hours of adsorption process at 300 rpm by using Fe3O4 (94%) and gFe2O3 (92%) nanoparticles. The maximum removal of copper ions was nearly 100% when gFe2O3-SiO2-AgCl & Fe3O4-SiO2-AgCl coreshell particles were used. The samples that were prepared without magnetic core such as AgCl-SiO2, AgCl and SiO2 particles, showed lower percentage of the copper ions removal (78%, 60% and 20%, respectively). This situation shows that the magnetic nanoparticles plays and important role during the adsorption process due to their large active sites for the adsorption to occur.
      2