Synthesis and photocatalytic performance of Bi2O3 thin films obtained in a homemade spin coater

• Published in: Materials today communications 2021-06, Vol.27, p.102214, Article 102214
• Main Authors: Falsetti, Paulo H.E., Soares, Fernando C., Rodrigues, Gabriel N., Del Duque, Douglas M.S., de Oliveira, Wlademir R., Gianelli, Bruno F., de Mendonça, Vagner R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bismuth oxide; Heterogeneous photocatalysis; Spin coating; Thin films
• ISSN: 2352-4928; 2352-4928
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mtcomm.2021.102214

[Display omitted] •A homemade apparatus for thin film deposition was assembled.•The equipament was applied in Bi2O3 thin film synthesis.•The equipment presented reproducibility.•Bi2O3 thin films showed good photocatalytic performance in Rhodamine B decolorization.•The films were able to be used in five consecutive cycles. This paper describes the deposition of Bi2O3 thin films by spin-coating in a homemade apparatus and their application as photocatalyst in dye photodegradation under UV radiation. For substrate fixation in the spin coating equipment, we developed an alternative method named fit-in method, where the substrate is directlly fixed in a polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) polymer base used as a sample holder. The Bi2O3 precursor resin was obtained according to the polymeric precursor method and deposited on glass substrates by a dynamic system operating at 4000 RPM, varying the number of added drops (10 or 20), followed by a calcination step to promote oxide crystallization. The thin films were characterized by X-ray diffratometry (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and sessile drop method (SDM). The photocatalytic efficiency of Bi2O3 thin films was evaluated by the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV radiation. The as-obtained Bi2O3 thin films presented high performance in RhB dye removal from aqueous solution and stability during five cycles of reuse, regardless of deposition conditions, which is considered the main feature of a thin film used as a photocatalyst.