Micro-arc oxidation of TC4 substrates to fabricate TiO2/YAG:Ce3+ compound films with enhanced photocatalytic activity

This paper introduces a process for "in situ" preparing TiO2 photocatalytic film compounded with YAG:Ce3+ semiconductor upon titanium alloy by using micro-arc oxidation (MAO). The surface morphology, chemical compositions, phase structures and photocatalytic properties of the films were characterized and measured by field emission gun scanning electron microscope (FEG-SEM), energydispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), electro-chemical workstation and UV-vis spectrophotometer. The results show that the YAG:Ce3+ semiconductor particles which were added in the electrolyte had been homogenously compounded within the TiO2 film during MAO. Compared with the pure TiO2 film, the compounded film exhibited much larger specific surface area, stronger absorption in the visible light and higher photo-generated current density, which improves the photocatalytic property markedly. It is expected that MAO will provide a simple, economic and promising approach for preparing a superior photocatalytic TiO2 film. Crown Copyright (c) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.