Electrophoretic deposition and characterization of self-doped SrTiO(3) thin films

Herein, titanium (Ti(3+)) self-doped strontium titanate (SrTiO(3)), so-called blue SrTiO(3), with a bandgap of 2.6 eV and favorable photocatalytic characteristics was fabricated through a facile and effective method. For electrochemical investigations, the electrophoretic deposition was applied to produce SrTiO(3) thin films on (fluorine-doped tin oxide) FTO conductive substrates. The electrophoretic voltage of 20 V and a process duration of 10 min were optimized to reach transparent and uniform coatings on FTO. The blue SrTiO(3) reveals lower resistance (charge transfer resistance of 6.38 Ω cm(-2)) and higher electron mobility (current density value of 0.25 mA cm(-2)) compared to a pure SrTiO(3) electrode. These findings may provide new insights for developing high-performance visible light photocatalysts.