N-doped photocatalytic titania thin films on active polymer substrates

Active polymer substrates have found their way in the semiconductor industry as a base layer for flexible electronics, as well as in sensor and actuator applications. The optimum performance of these systems may be affected by dirt adsorbed on its surface, which can also originate mechanisms for the degradation of the polymer. Titanium dioxide (titania) semiconductor photocatalytic thin films have been deposited by unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering on one of the most applied and investigated electroactive polymer: poly(vinilidene fluoride), PVDF. In order to increase the photocatalytic efficiency of the titania coatings, a reduction of the semiconductor band-gap has been attempted by using a nitrogen doping. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy was used in order to assess the composition of the titania thin films, whereas Heavy Ion Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis provided the evaluation of the doping level of nitrogen. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy provided valuable information about the cation-anion binding within the semiconductor lattice. The photocatalytic performance of the titania films have been characterized by decomposing an organic dye illuminated with combined UV/visible light.