Atmospheric plasma dielectric barrier discharge: A simple route to produce superhydrophilic TiO₂@carbon nanostructure

Abstract

Abstract A one‐step technique for the deposition of superhydrophilic TiO 2 @carbon nanocomposites is described in this study. The nanocomposites are synthesized by injecting TiO 2 nanoparticles suspended in isopropanol into a dielectric barrier discharge operating at atmospheric pressure (AP‐DBD) generated in an N 2 /N 2 O gas mixture. The influence of the voltage (3–8 kV) applied to a 2‐kHz‐operated AP‐DBD on the wettability of the as‐deposited TiO 2 @C nanocomposites is examined. The water contact angle is drastically reduced from 93° for the reference TiO 2 powder to <5° for the deposited nanocomposite. This superhydrophilicity is not caused by the increase of the surface roughness determined by atomic force microscopy measurement but rather by the higher density of graphitic compounds at the surface, as confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements.