Latest research work highlighted as Hot Article 2015 in Journal of Materials Chemistry

One of the latest research works developed at Bio Nano Consulting in collaboration with University College London (UCL) has now been featured as a ‘Hot Article 2015’ in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, a renowned journal within the scientific community.

The work has been developed by Dr Nicholas Chadwick (Scientific Consultant at BNC) under the supervision of Professor Ivan Parkin (Head of Chemistry Department at UCL) and Professor Claire Carmalt (Head of the Inorganic & Materials section in the Department of Chemistry and Vice Dean of Education at UCL) and investigates the interplay of nitrogen and niobium co-dopants and the resultant functional properties within titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films.

In particular, the study was successful in creating and identifying the optimum dopant concentration at which the TiO₂ films exhibited both a high rate of photo-activity and favourable transparent conducting oxide (TCO) properties. The combinatorial study used in this work allows BNC researchers to identify and optimise both functional properties to exist in conjunction in the same TiO₂ film.

Titanium dioxide, particularly once doped, is a material of interest in many technological fields such as solar photovoltaics, photo-catalysis and transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) because of its low cost, low toxicity and well defined physical properties. In an effort to combine two or more functional properties, such as photo-catalytic activity and high conductivity, the use of co-dopants opens a new range of possibilities in technological applications.

The high interest received from the scientific community highlights the potential of the synthesis method proposed in this study as well as the number of applications that the innovative bifunctional film can offer.