Weipeng Wang

Oxygen vacancy–induced ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO thin films

ZnO films became ferromagnetic when defects were introduced by thermal-annealing in flowing argon. This ferromagnetism, as shown by the photoluminescence measurement and positron annihilation analysis, was induced by the singly occupied oxygen vacancy with a saturated magnetization dependent positively on the amount of this vacancy. This study clarified the origin of the ferromagnetism of un-doped ZnO thin films and provides possibly an alternative way to prepare ferromagnetic ZnO films.

Origin of the defects-induced ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO single crystals

We clarified, in this Letter, that in un-doped ZnO single crystals after thermal annealing in flowing argon, the defects-induced room-temperature ferromagnetism was originated from the surface defects and specifically, from singly occupied oxygen vacancies denoted as F+, by the optical and electrical properties measurements as well as positron annihilation analysis. In addition, a positive linear relationship was observed between the ferromagnetism and the F+ concentration, which is in support with the above clarification.

Substrate effect on the room-temperature ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO films

Room-temperature ferromagnetism was achieved in un-doped ZnO films on silicon and quartz substrates. Photoluminescence measurement and positron annihilation analysis suggested that the ferromagnetism was originated from singly occupied oxygen vacancies (roughly estimated as ∼0.55 μB/vacancy), created in ZnO films by annealing in argon. The saturated magnetization of ZnO films was enhanced from ∼0.44 emu/g (on quartz) to ∼1.18 emu/g (on silicon) after annealing at 600 °C, as silicon acted as oxygen getter and created more oxygen vacancies in ZnO films. This study clarified the origin of ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO and provides an idea to enhance the ferromagnetism.

Visible Light Photoelectrochemical Properties of N-doped TiO 2 nanorod arrays from TiN

N-doped TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRAs) were prepared by annealing the TiN nanorod arrays (NRAs) which were deposited by using oblique angle deposition (OAD) technique. The TiN NRAs were annealed at 330°C for different times (5, 15, 30, 60, and 120 min). The band gaps of annealed TiN NRAs (i.e., N-doped TiO2 NRAs) show a significant variance with annealing time, and can be controlled readily by varying annealing time. All of the N-doped TiO2 NRAs exhibit an enhancement in photocurrent intensity in visible light compared with that of pure TiO2 and TiN, and the one annealed for 15 min shows the maximum photocurrent intensity owning to the optimal N dopant concentration. The results show that the N-doped TiO2 NRAs, of which the band gap can be tuned easily, are a very promising material for application in photocatalysis.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 nanorod arrays decorated with CdS nanoparticles

Abstract TiO2 nanorod arrays (TiO2 NRAs) sensitized with CdS nanoparticles were fabricated via successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR), and TiO2 NRAs were obtained by oxidizing Ti NRAs obtained through oblique angle deposition. The TiO2 NRAs decorated with CdS nanoparticles exhibited excellent photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic properties under visible light, and the one decorated with 20 SILAR cycles CdS nanoparticles shows the best performance. This can be attributed to the enhanced separation of electrons and holes by forming heterojunctions of CdS nanoparticles and TiO2 NRAs. This provides a promising way to fabricate the material for solar energy conversion and wastewater degradation.

Enhanced room-temperature ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO thin films by thermal annealing in a strong magnetic field

Room-temperature ferromagnetism was achieved in un-doped ZnO films by annealing the films in flowing argon at 650 °C. The ferromagnetic property of the ZnO films can be manipulated by applying an external magnetic field during annealing, with a maximum of 2.7 emu/g achieved at a field of 7 T, which is almost double that when no magnetic field was applied. The reason is that the magnetic field influenced greatly the involvement of oxygen defects which are origin of the ferromagnetism of these un-doped ZnO films.

Mechanical property improvement by texture control of magnetron co-sputtered Zr-Ti films

The present work studies the effect of substrate temperature and film composition on the structural and mechanical properties evolution of magnetron sputtered Zr-Ti films. As-deposited films show a monotonically strengthening (0002) crystallographic texture ranging from ambient temperature to 523 K, while then reveal a (0002) texture to randomly orientated structure transition at higher temperature. High Resolution TEM observations reveal a competitive and reconstruction growth mechanism which is in good agreement with the well-known Structure Zone Model. Nano-indentation measurements revealed that texture strengthening contribute to the improvement of mechanical properties. These results suggest that by establishing a semi-quantitative phase diagram based on the Structure Zone Model, structure and structure-related properties modification can be easily realized and precisely controlled by modifying the TS/Tm region during deposition.

Fabrication of TiN nanostructure as a hydrogen peroxide sensor by oblique angle deposition.

Nanostructured titanium nitride (TiN) films with varying porosity were prepared by the oblique angle deposition technique (OAD). The porosity of films increases as the deposition angle becomes larger. The film obtained at an incident angle of 85° exhibits the best catalytic activity and sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This could be attributed to its largest contact area with the electrolyte. An effective approach is thus proposed to fabricate TiN nanostructure as H2O2 sensor by OAD.

Tuning the optical bandgap of TiO2-TiN composite films as photocatalyst in the visible light

TiO2-TiN composite catalysts were prepared by oxidizing the TiN films in air at 350 °C. By adjusting the oxidation time to control the oxidation stage of TiN films, the optical band gap of the TiO2-TiN composites can be varied in a wide range from 1.68 eV to 3.23 eV. These composite films all showed red shift in photo-response towards the visible region, and depending on the optical band gap, some composite films exhibited good catalytic activity in the visible light region. This study provides a simple but effective method to prepare film photocatalyst working in visible light.

X-ray irradiation-induced reversible wettability modification of titanium NRAs

The reversible transition between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of Ti NRAs induced by alternating X-ray irradiation and ethanol immersion has been revealed. The wettability modification is attributed to the chemisorption of alkyl groups on TNRA surfaces from airborne molecules.